


Sonic The hedgehog: Through the Fires of Time

by Thegman805



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: A little more violent than canon, Action/Adventure, Canon Compliant, Canon Rewrite, Elise is a bird, So is everyone else from Soleanna, Sonic 06 rewrite, Sonic doesn't die, That was dumb, based on a video by Story Surgery, romance is there but never the focus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25229917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegman805/pseuds/Thegman805
Summary: In the distant future, where flames have consumed the Earth, Silver and a much older Blaze fight desperately to save the world. When the monster that brought on the apocalypse proves to be too much for the duo to handle, Blaze seals the beast within herself and uses its power to send Silver back in time to when 'the blue wind' supposedly caused the fires to spread. Armed with only his psychokinetic abilities and a vague prophecy, Silver sets off on a journey to find whatever, or whoever is responsible for the end of the world.Based off of Story Surgery's rewrite of Sonic 06. Go watch his video. Seriously. Its 2 hours long, but it's REALLY good. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/fjI8cp_-fJs. Now you have no excuse.Chapters 1-6 are an adaptation of Story Surgery's video. If you want to skip straight to the original stuff, start at chapter 7.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	1. Out of Time

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Story Surgery - Sonic 06](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/647380) by EPZ379. 



A soft red glow shown through a slit in the curtains of a sliding glass door. The light spread faintly through a small apartment with various pieces of literature and potted plants scattered throughout the room. A hedgehog lay on a couch with his face into the cushions, fast asleep. 

A low rumble shook the hedgehog from his slumber. With an annoyed grumble, he rose from the couch. He raised his hand and it enveloped in a teal glow, along with an array of push lights screwed into the ceiling. In a wave, the lights came on and flooded the dim apartment with light. One of the lights only flickered, and then turned off again. The hedgehog focused his mind on the defective light. It unscrewed itself from its socket and floated down to his hand, covered in the teal glow. He takes the light over to a drawer labeled ‘electrical supplies’ on the other side of the room. After rummaging through the drawer a bit, he replaces the batteries within the light. The light is then lifted back up to the ceiling, and screws itself back into place before turning on.

The hedgehog took a moment to look over his living space. What little space was not taken up by potted plant of all shapes and sizes was occupied by old books, magazines and newspapers. Each one told a different story from the time before the fires, of green hills that rolled into the sunset, and vast oceans that spread as far as the eye could see. One thing that he never learned from his collection is what happened to this world.

Moving over to a small closet, the hedgehog opened the door to reveal an assortment of containers full of water. He concentrated on a small watering can, and brought it to his outstretched, glowing hand. A small feeling of guilt lingered in the back of his mind over wasting such a precious resource on a hobby, but his makeshift garden gave him hope. Hope that one day the flames will subside, and life can return to the world. After carefully watering each plant, he puts the can back and shuts the closet door.

The hedgehog walked up to the curtains, pausing for half as second before opening them. He frowns at the sight of deep crimson flames raging through what used to be the streets of a huge city. The great concrete towers that protruded from the chaos below were scorched and partially melted, a few in the distance were in the process of collapsing under their own weight. Part of him hopes that maybe, _just maybe_ , he will wake one day to find the retched fire gone. Another part knows that the day will never come. 

Upon sliding open the glass door, a wave of hot air rushes into the room, sending loose papers and magazines into the air. The Hedgehog engulfs himself in the teal glow and leaps out of the apartment, and closing the glass door behind him. Even as he flies high above the ground the heat is intense enough to cause beads of sweat to drip from his body. His mind wanders back to what could have possibly caused all of this destruction. “A blue wind arrives at the Festival of the Sun. That is where the world ignited, and the flames begun,” he remembers being told. That was the most detailed answer he had ever gotten from anyone he asked.

After a few minutes of flying through the ruined city, the hedgehog spied a hooded figure standing at the edge of a dilapidated building. He flew over to the figure, and landed softly next to them. The figure turned to him with tired, blind eyes that once shown a brilliant amber. 

“The flames are loud today, Silver,” said the old cat with streaks of gray hair mixed in with her faded purple fur, “Louder than ever before.” A necklace of rectangular jewels hung around her neck sparkled in the light of the fires.

“Sorry I’m late, Blaze. Spent most of last night reading… again…”

“No matter. We still have time to prepare, though I fear we may not be enough this time.”

“We can do this,” replied Silver. “We’ve defeated the beast dozens of times in the past, and we’ll do it a million of times more, if that’s what it takes.”

Blaze turns back to the flames and chuckles to herself, “I’ve met a lot of people like you over the years. Always wanting to push through, no matter the odds…”

Silver looks down into the inferno as well. He hesitates for a moment, trying to figure out how to word his question before asking, “Do you know how… What causes them? T-the flames, I mean.”

“Knowing what causes them will not put them out.”

“I know that, but-”

“We must focus on what is, not what was.” 

Silver grumbled in frustration at being denied answers, yet again.

A few moments of silence pass before Blaze speaks up once more. “These flames, they cry out in triumph… and anguish.” 

Silver looks at her, confused. “I thought you said that the flames didn’t speak in words. How can you tell what they’re saying?”

“They don’t,” Blaze replied, clutching the brightly colored jewels around her neck. “They consume because they are empty. No soul, no spirit to guide them. Like a wild animal, driven only by the instinct of hunger.”

“Maybe they are in pain and triumph because they don’t know if they’ll win or lose today,” said Silver.

“Perhaps we should make that choice for them.”

Just as Blaze finished her reply, the earth shook, and a great roar boomed from the vortex of fire and lava below. A tornado of blood-red fire rose up from the ground and into the sky. “It’s here,” Blaze spoke before she assumed a fighting stance, her fists clenched as she was enveloped in her own aura. Unlike Silver’s cold fluorescence, Blaze glowed a soft orange that radiated almost as much heat as the surrounding fires. 

Silver ran to the other side of the building, and with all of his might, reached out to various large chunks of debris from the surrounding skyscrapers and highways. Even with his powerful psychokinetic abilities, his mind and body strained to lift such an immense weight. He turned to take aim at the beast in the fire tornado, which was just now taking shape.

Suddenly, the swirling fire unfurled into a pair massive burning wings. Each one was attached to a humongous bird-like demon composed of the same scarlet fire that ravaged the city. The beast stared down at Silver and Blaze as they prepared for battle. The terrible phoenix let out another roar, but due to its gargantuan size, the sonic blast was felt more than it was heard.

Once the thunderous cry ceased, silver flung the heaps of concrete and metal at the creature. Some projectiles penetrated the monster, dispersing some of its weaker form. The rest melted before making contact. However, Silver had planned for this to happen. As the molten stone and steel made contact with the beast, Blaze focused her energy onto its fiery form. Instead of the viscous liquid passing through the burning titan, it coated the monster in a heavy layer of lava. Blaze turned her efforts to keeping the phoenix in place as it roared again, and silver prepared to launch another volley.

Again and again, the beast was struck by debris as Blaze desperately tried to cool the layer of lava covering the creature. Though the weight of the molten concrete and rebar slowed the demon’s movements, it refused to yield. The beast would reel its enormous head back and send a stream of file down at the cat and hedgehog, but blaze always managed to deflect it. However, with her attention divided, the beast’s magma casing began to melt again, undoing nearly a half-hour’s worth of progress.

Panting and sweating bullets, Silver called out to Blaze, “It’s not working! What do we do?!” Blaze did not answer. “Blaze?! What do we do?!” he repeated.

Blaze pants, trying not to lose concentration, “It’s too much…” Her grip on the monster’s fire begins to weaken as her knees wobble. When the strain became too much for her old body to handle, she collapsed. Silver ran over to catch her as the beast shook off the molten debris, rose to its full height and let out another sonorous cry.

“Blaze, please,” Silver said to his fallen friend, “Please, you have to keep going! We can still stop it!”

Silver helped blaze to her feet. He looked up at the raging phoenix, with panic in his eyes. _This is it_ , he thought, _this is how I die_. Silver looked to his friend desperately for any form of reassurance, anything that might prove him wrong. When he looked into Blaze’s cloudy, tired and blind old eyes he saw no fear, no worry, only fire.

“It’s too much _noise!_ ” exclaimed Blaze as she stood defiantly against the monster that threatened to reduce them to ash. She stretches out both hands, and the gems around her neck break apart. They swirl in a circle around her outstretched hands, quickly picking up speed. After a few moments the sheer velocity of the jewels causes them to burst into flames. The beast looked down at the display quizzically, before its own fire began being sucked into the center of the ring formed by the gems. Silver could only stare in awe as he watched the immense creature slowly being diminished in size. Its cries became more frequent and desperate as it was consumed by the flaming jewels. The beast let out one last scream of agony before disappearing completely, and the world went dark.

In the void, Silver took a moment to process what he had just seen. _What on Earth was THAT?!_ His stupor was broken by Blaze’s voice.

“I see it…” the phrase echoed through the blackness surrounding them. Silver turns to see Blaze looking nothing like she had just moments before. Her fur was somehow even blacker than the nothingness around them, and little flames danced on the tips of her hair. Fire poured from her eyes as she stared into Silver’s very soul. In her hand she held a single ember, blood-red. 

“Find him, Silver. Follow the wind,” said Blaze, void of emotion. Silver on the other hand, could take no more of her vague and meaningless words. Now was the time for answers.

“But what does that _mean?!,_ ” Silver exploded at her. “ _What did you see? What do you mean ‘follow the wind’?_ You have done nothing but dodge my questions for _Years_ ! You have kept me completely in the dark despite me being the only one around to help you!” As Silver went on his tirade, Blaze lifted her other hand over the one holding the ember and slowly brought her palm down on the flicker of red light. “Won’t you please, for _once_ in your life, just give me a straight answer and tell me _what is going on?!”_

As Blaze’s hand made contact with the ember, a blinding white light burst from her hands. Silver quickly moved to shield his eyes, but even with his hands in front of his face and his eyes shut tight, the light was painfully bright. Whether an hour or merely ten seconds passed, Silver did not know.

Suddenly, yet faintly, a voice called out to him.

“Sir? Sir? _SIR!”_

Silver slowly opened his eyes to see a bird wearing some sort of police officer’s uniform was glaring at him with an annoyed expression. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to get out of the fountain,” said the officer.

Silver looked around to see a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds moving gently in the breeze. Town houses about five stories tall lined the cobblestone pathways leading to the square, in the center of which was the fountain in question. A small crowd of civilians was staging at him. Silver quickly followed the officer’s orders, mumbling an embarrassed apology.

Once Silver was out of the fountain, a voice coming from behind him asked with a giggle, “First time in Soleanna, I presume?” Silver turned around to see another bird, a girl maybe a year or two his senior. She had a full head of bright red hair that shimmered in the sunlight, encircled by a small golden crown designed to resemble fire. She also wore an elegant white dress adorned with subtle patterns that matched her crown.

“Uh… yeah… it is…” Silver replied hesitantly. 

“Then I assume you’re here for The Festival?,” the girl asked with excitement.

“Festival?”

“The Festival of the Sun.”

“Speaking of which, princess Elise, would you please come with me. You still need to get ready,” said what Silver assumed to be her guard, standing a few feet behind her.

“I’m already wearing the dress, what more could there possibly be?,” replied Elise with mock annoyance, before following her royal escort down a street leading away from the square. They then turned a corner and disappeared.

 _The Festival of the Sun?,_ Silver thought to himself as he walked over to a nearby bench to sit down and organize his thoughts. _Could this be where, or more importantly, when it all started? Even if that was the case, what should I even do?_

Silver leaned back into the bench and looked up at the sky. Of all the books he had read that talked about the sky, none had come remotely close to just how _blue_ it was. “ _A blue wind arrives at the Festival of the Sun_ ,” Silver muttered to himself. “Did she mean that literally?” He closed his eyes and concentrated on the air around him, trying to feel a breeze. Nothing. With a sigh, Silver let his head hang. “This is where an explanation would have been really helpful, _Blaze_.”

Silver took in a deep breath and got up from his seat. Now was not the time to mope about his current predicament. He turned on his heel and headed down the same street the princess had taken, not sure what he was looking for, but determined to find it. At the end of the street was a wide canal that flowed into a large pond, where a massive cauldron was supported above the water’s surface. 

Once Silver got to the canal, he took some time to take in his surroundings. Trees larger than he had ever seen were planted regularly along the streets and pathways that weaved through townhouses of varying sizes. The water in the canal reflected the brilliant blue of the mid-day sky, only disturbed by the occasional small boat ferrying passengers through the city. People all round him walked up and down the city streets with smiles on their faces, just going about their daily lives. Silver was amazed that such a place could be so _alive_.

 _Well,_ Silver thought, _I don’t know what this ‘blue wind’ is supposed to be, but its bound to show up eventually._ With that, he took off towards the cauldron with a new-found enthusiasm. Though he did not have much of a plan, he had all day to figure everything out… and maybe do some sightseeing along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are. After watching Story Surgery's video, I'm surprised that no one has written anything about it here (that I am aware of). Might as well do it myself, right? Anyway, I just want to clarify some stuff about where this fic is going. The first 6 or so chapters will pretty much be a direct adaptation of Story Surgery's video, but after that is all going to be my own stuff. Hopefully I don't pull a Game of Thrones and screw it all up. Once again, if you have not seen the rewrite this is based on, go do it now. It will give you a good idea of where I'm taking this.
> 
> This is my first fic, so go easy on me, but if you do notice any spelling errors or inconsistencies please let me know. If you also have any suggestions as to what you think could improve the story, please leave them in the comments as well. Thank you for reading, and I will have the next chapter up soon. Hopefully.


	2. The Blue Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Festival of the Sun is well under way! Soleanna is filled with light, music and laughter, but little do they know that the mad doctor, Ivo Robotnik, lies in waiting right above their heads. But wherever Eggman goes, Sonic is never far behind.

As night fell, a parade of elaborately decorated boats made their way through the main canal of Soleanna. On the leading barge stood Princess Elise, accompanied by her personal guard as well as some priests of Solaris. Following her were boats filled with dancers and an entire orchestra.

Elise waved at the crowds as she passed. The sight of a father and his young daughter dancing to the surrounding music brought a sad smile to her face. A guard briefly broke from formation to ask if the princess was alright, and after confirmation that she was, the guard immediately stepped back into place. As the barge approached the great cauldron at the center of Soleanna, Elise was approach from behind by one of the clerics.

“Your majesty,” he said with a bow, presenting Elise with an ornate gold torch. Elise took the torch and raised it above her head. When the sun finally sunk below the horizon, a bright flame burst from the tip of the torch. Thunderous cheers and applause erupted from the crowds along the canal’s banks. When her boat reached a platform in front of the cauldron, she disembarked, carrying the torch with her. She then turned and motioned for the crowd to silence themselves.

Elise took a deep breath before announcing to the people watching her, “We give thanks for this blessed flame, our tribute to Solaris, for guiding and watching over us. We take this flame to show you we are here.” Elise turned to a much smaller cauldron filled with oil just behind her and lowered the torch. The flames leapt onto the oil’s surface, as lamps and torches around the city were ignited as well. Small trails of fire swirled up and around the grand cauldron before it too, burst into flame. The citizens of Soleanna once again erupted with cheers and applause, before being silenced by their princess again.

Raising her arms to the night sky, Elise announced to the crowd, “Solaris, We give our gratitude for lighting our way in the past, and into the future. May peace reign forever under the light of the sun!” A pregnant pause fell over the city.

“Let the celebration begin!”

Suddenly, the music swelled as the Soleannans gave out yet another round of applause before resuming their festivities. A priest approached Elise from his place on the barge. “That was wonderful, your majesty.”

“T-thank you,” replied the princess sheepishly, “Even after ten years of this, I always feel like I’m going to forget something.”

“Would you like us to take you to shore, your grace?” asked one of her guards.

“Absolutely, I have to know what is making that delicious smell.”

-

The Festival was in full swing. Everyone danced to the music playing in the streets, and ate their fill of all the food the street vendors could make. Nearly everybody in Soleanna had a smile on their face, including a lone hedgehog who wandered through the city.

Silver was completely awestruck. His eyes were as wide as he could make them, and his jaw practically dragged on the floor. He marveled at the sights and sounds, but what caught his attention most was the smells. He looked around excitedly at the cuisine being served to the people of Soleanna. Silver had only ever seen this much food in his magazines, and now it all was being made right in front of him!

Silver put a hand over his stomach as it growled. He admonished himself for not bringing any food, but then again, he wasn’t exactly planning on time traveling today. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Silver spotted a vendor with a large calk board leaning against his stand. It read, ‘All orders on the house TONIGHT ONLY.’ A line of people stretched from where Silver was standing to the vendor, and the gray hedgehog wasted no time getting in line. He watched as people ordered their food and walked away with plates of pasta that nearly made him drool. When it was Silver’s turn to order, he walked up to the stand, and was paralyzed with indecision at all the sauces and toppings to choose from.

His stupor was broken when the vendor running the stand asked him in a friendly voice, “Hello there, what can I get for you this evening?” Silver looked up at the bird with wide and wondrous eyes. “I’ll take one of everything,” he replied, salivating. The request had the vendor a bit take aback, but he was happy to oblige.

After waiting for his order, Silver used his powers to take his plates of assorted pastas with him as he flew up to the rooftop of a nearby building. He sat down and carefully lowered his food and released the teal glow around them. A wide smile spread across Silver’s face as he began to eat. Continuing to watch the festivities below, he saw the princess leaving the city-wide party, and get back onto the platform before the great cauldron. He listened intently as the crowd fell silent once more and Elise made her next announcement.

-

“We take this moment of silence,” said Elise, turning to face the crowd, “to reflect on our past. By the light of Solaris, our ancestors were guided here, to set roots deep beneath our feet, so that we could stand here today. We give this moment of silence to Solaris, so that they may guide us into the future.” The princess bowed her head, and the citizens followed.

From high above her head, Elise heard a strange noise. Looking up, she saw a shadow moving against the night sky. The silhouette came closer and closer, until the bright fire from the cauldron just barely illuminated the shape’s underside. This form, that had been hiding just above their heads, was revealed to be gargantuan metal airship. Painted on the vessel’s side was a giant face with a wide, tooth smile and an almost comically large mustache. 

Suddenly, bay doors on either side of the airship opened, releasing a swarm of… _something_ down on to the city. Hundreds of robot soldiers landed in the streets below with a crash. Each unit in the swarm bore a long, pointed nose, and an unsettling LED smile that resembled the one on thew ship’s decal. Screams of terror ripped through the city as guards were either restrained or thrown into the water by the mechanical monsters.

Elise was soon surrounded by robots who made quick work of her own guards. The sound of jet engines grew louder behind her, and she turned around to look at its source. A pod was slowly lowering, its pilot being a bald, egg shaped man that must have been who the ship’s emblem was trying to represent. The man smiled at her and bowed, and stood up again to make eye contact.

“Good evening, _your majesty_ ,” said the man before her. “It is a pleasure to meet you at last.”

“Who are you?,” Elise asked, trying to stand tall in spite of her fear. 

“Ah, my apologies. I am doctor Ivo Robotnik, renowned scientist, engineer and-”

“What do you want?,” Elise cuts him off defiantly.

The doctor chuckled. “I admire your tenacity, princess.” Robotnik looks out to see his minions herding the citizens into small groups. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about this festival of yours. Quite the party, if I do say so myself. I Just wanted to ask you a few questions about the Flames of Solaris. After all, who better to learn from than from the source.”

-

Silver looked on as the robots slowly close in on the princess. He wants to leap off of this building and help, but he is stopped by doubt. _Do I have the right to meddle in affairs like this?_

_WHOOSH!_

Something sped right past Silver’s head, leaving a distinct blue trail.

-

Elise was paralyzed. Years of peace time had left her utterly unprepared for a scenario like this. _Should I do what he says? I don’t want him to hurt anybody_ , she thought to herself. _But I can’t abandon my people either_. 

Elise ran over her options in her head. She didn’t know how to fight, and even if she did, what could she and her fragile bird bones do to an army of robots? She could negotiate a way out of this, but Robotnik didn’t seem like the type of person to bend easily. Her only choice seemed to be to go with the doctor.

Before Elise could make her first hesitant step, a sudden clang rang out from behind her. Elise and Robotnik looked back to see one of the robots had a large portion of its chassis caved in. Broken wires and circuit boards sprayed sparks occasionally as the now broken machine fell over.

_CRASH!_

_CLANK!_

_THUNK!_

Three more robots met a similar fate to their metal brother. The doctor looked around rapidly and in a panic. Suddenly, something landed on the back of the doctor’s pod, causing it to bob and wobble a little before setting again.

Robotnik snapped to look behind him, only to see nothing. He felt a light tapping on his left shoulder, and turned to face whatever was interrupting his plan. Nothing again, followed by another tap, but now on his right. Once again, he turned to look and saw nothing. However, He had caught on to this little game, and when his left shoulder felt another tap, he quickly pulled out a blaster from under his seat, and quickly pointed it at where he predicted the unknown menace would be. The smile that had spread across Robotnik’s face dropped, as well as his mustache, when he saw that there was still nobody there.

“Excuse me, miss? Is this man bothering you?,” a cocky voice said to Elise. The princess saw that a lanky blue hedgehog had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, right beside her.

“ _You little RAT!_ ,” shouted the doctor, “I should have known you’d be here! Egg Pawns, _GET HIM!_ ”

The hedgehog merely flicked his nose with his thumb and smirked as the robots closed in on him before rocketing off, circling Elise at ludicrous speeds. The hedgehog’s high velocity created a miniature tornado that swept most of the robots off of their feet and flung them into the air. As the blue blur went around and around, he smashed into the robots caught in the vortex, leaving them with roughly hedgehog-sized holes in their bodies. One straggler managed to dodge the initial attack, but was now stumbling backwards to the edge of the platform. Just before the robot caught its balance, the hedgehog stopped in front of it. He lifted one of his shiny red shoes up, and tapped the robot on the tip of its nose with his toe, sending the machine into the water.

“ _Why, you little_ -!” growled Robotnik as he slammed his fist onto a button next to his pod’s control panel. Small missile bays opened up on the underside of the pod and took aim at the hedgehog.

“Uh-oh,” the hedgehog muttered, before zipping over to Elise, and picking her up bridal style. “ _Excuse me_ ,” he said, and blasted off in the opposite direction of the doctor. The sudden acceleration caused Elise to let out an unbecoming squawk, and leave a few loose feathers behind. 

-

Silver’s jaw dropped when he saw what was happening. Then, a realization hit him. _That guy must be the blue wind!_ He thought before taking off after the ‘little rat’ and the princess.

-

Sonic sped across the parade of barges, Elise holding on and screaming for dear life. The missiles were not far behind when The hedgehog reached the end of the line of boats. Instead of jumping to either bank of the canal, Sonic simply ran over the edge. To Elise’s surprise, he did not immediately sink into the water, but ran across its surface as if it were solid ground.

The hedgehog kept up his momentum through the curves of the canal, continuing to run at break-neck speed. Seeing a bridged up ahead, Sonic got an idea. He leapt with all his might, just barely clearing the arched pathway, and landed on one of the banks. The missiles tried to pull up to follow the blue blur, but they were too slow, and collided with the bridge. The resulting explosion completely destroyed the bridge, and shattered more than a few windows, but sonic had no time to inspect the damage. He focused on keeping his pace, and carrying Elise away from Eggman’s army.

Elise looked on as streetlamps passed so fast they seemed to blend together. They stopped when the hedgehog came to an empty plaza, and set her down. “Stay here,” he told her as he jumped on to the rooftops to see if they had been followed. Out of the corner of her eye, Elise spotted her reflection in a window. Noticing that a few feathers were sticking out of her hair at random angles, she quickly tried to smooth them out.

“Looks like we lost ‘em,” said the hedgehog behind her.

Elise jumped with a start. Once she settled, she asked, “What was all _that_?!”

“ _That_ was my pal, doctor Eggman,” replied the hedgehog, “doing what he does best, ruining everything for everybody.”

“You mean doctor Robotnik?,” asked Elise with a raised eyebrow. The hedgehog nodded. “Right, And who might you be?”

The hedgehog smirked, and pointed to himself with his thumb. “Name’s Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are?”

“Princess Elise of Soleanna,” she replied with a bow.

Sonic’s eyes widened instantly at the realization of whom he had just met. He quickly backed away and began bowing profusely. “Y-your highness! I am _so_ sorry for picking you up and carrying you off like that! I-it won’t happen again, I swear! I was just trying to help-”

“Nonono, it’s okay,” Elise said, cutting Sonic’s rambling apology off. “Especially given the circumstances. Though, I would like an explanation of what exactly is going on.”

Sonic let out a sigh of relief that he probably wouldn’t be arrested after this was all over. “Well, you see,” he began, “Tails and I caught wind that Eggman was up to no good, as usual. So, we followed him as fast as we could, which lead us here, and that’s about all we know right now.”

“Wait, wait, wait, who’s ‘Tails’?”

“He’s a buddy of mine, and my eyes in the sky,” Sonic explained. The sound of an airplane could be heard in the distance, and it was slowly coming closer. “As a matter of fact, there he is right now!”

Elise looked up at the source of the noise to see a red biplane soaring overhead. Something appeared to drop from the plane onto their location. Just before it hit the ground, sonic zipped over to catch it, and zipped right back with a small radio in his hand.

“How’s it lookin’ up there, Tails?,” Sonic said into the device.

“Cloudy with a chance of Eggman!” a voice on the other end shouted over the sound of the plane’s engine. “Robots are _everywhere_ , and I _really_ hope the Egg Carrier hasn’t seen me yet! What about you?”

“Same, for the most part. I saved a princess, so add that to the things I never thought I’d say. How’s everyone else doing?”

“Knuckles and Amy are busy getting all the people out of the city! Progress is slow, though. Might take a while. Just sit tight and keep the princess out of sight for a while until we figure out what Eggman is up to.”

Sonic looks up at the Egg Carrier quizzically. He pauses before turning back to Elise and asking, “say, what were you and Eggman talking about before I got here?”

“He said he had questions about the Flames of Solaris,” Elise replies with a hand under her chin, also looking up at the giant airship.

“Solaris?”

“They’re our guardian, who watches over Soleanna,” explained Elise. She gestured to the ‘S’ shaped pendant on her necklace. “They are our strength,” she raised her hand to a hair piece on the left side of her head, “our spirit,” then the right, “and soul.”

“And the flames?,” questioned Sonic.

“The source of Solaris’ power is personified by the flames”

“Ah, a power source. That explains a lot,” Sonic replied, “If it’s powerful, he wants it.”

“Classic Eggman,” added Tails through the radio.

Elise responded with confusion, “But why would he want anything to do with the flames? Only those with a connection to the royal lineage can even hold the sacred torch, let alone use its power.”

Sonic shrugged with an exaggerated eye roll.“Yeah, he’d need someone like, I don’t know, a princess?”

“So that’s why he wanted me to come with him…”

“I bet ol’ Egghead got something on that ship of his. Only problem is we kinda got our hands full,” Sonic said, looking back up at the Egg Carrier.

“I could call in a few favors from our contact at G.U.N., if you want,” suggested Tails through the radio.

Sonic scoffed. “Good luck trying to get Shadow out here. He _never_ answers any of my calls.”

“Yeah, but It’s worth a shot. I’ll see what I can do,” was the last Tails said before he swooped the plane back towards the town, ready to provide air support where needed.

-

On a nearby rooftop, Silver took a moment to process all of what he had just heard. “Things just got a lot more complicated…” he thought out loud to himself. Just before he could get any sort of plan figured out, he saw that Sonic and the princess were about to leave. He hastily reached out for the blue hedgehog’s radio, capturing in a faint teal aura.

-

Sonic stopped as he felt something tug on his hand. Looking back he saw that his radio was glowing. He pulled and pulled, but the device would not budge. 

“It was said that it was a blue wind that let the fires spread, but I never thought it was mean to be taken so literally,” called a voice with an unknown source. Sonic and Elise looked up to see where it was coming from, and saw a gray hedgehog covered in the same glow as the radio, suspended in the air.

“Cool… and who are you?,” Sonic asked, very confused.

“My name is Silver, and I have been given an opportunity to find the Igniter of Devastation. I’ve waited a long time to get some answers, and now I’ll finally get them.”

Sonic looked at Elise quizzically, silently asking is she knew who this guy was. She only shrugged in response. “Listen, man, that’s a neat trick, but we gotta go. Places to be, people to meet, y’know,” Sonic said, letting go of the radio and turning to walk away. Before he could even take a single step, Sonic freezes, now enveloped by the glow.

“Not so fast, _Igniter_. You still have one last chance to be absolved. Tell me what your plan is! Tell me how you-” silver trails off as he noticed Elise staring at him with a confused expression.

After a pause, she cocks her head and asks, “Aren’t you the one who was standing in the fountain earlier?”

Silver dawned a nervous expression, clearly flustered by the question. He cleared his throat before declaring, “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I will find out, and I will stop you.” With that, Sliver flew away as fast as he could.

Sonic, suddenly unfrozen, stumbles to regain his footing. “What was _that guy’s_ problem?,” he asks. Elise only shrugged in response. 

The sound of robots running towards them filled the plaza. Taking that as their cue to leave, Sonic and Elise take off down an empty alleyway.

-

Once silver had flown far enough away, he landed and began banging his head on a nearby wall. “Stupid, stupid, _STUPID!_ ,” he exclaimed in time with his self-punishment. _What was all that ‘Igniter’ crap?!_ , he thought to himself, _You don't even know if he was the one who actually did it! And even if he did, what if it was just an accident? He just saved a princess, so he’s clearly not evil. Why did I have to go and run my mouth like that..?_

Silver slumped against the wall, trying to formulate a plan of action. His concentration was broken, however, when a fighter jest rushed over his position. From where he sat, silver could make out three large, blocky letters on the hull of the jet that spelled ‘G.U.N.’

-

Doctor Robotnik rubbed his temples in frustration. He should have known better. He _did_ know better. The little blue rat always managed to get involve with everything he does. With a sigh, he decided to have a look around the cauldron in hopes of finding something, _anything_ , that could help him understand how to control the Flames of Solaris. _Maybe there’s a mural, or inscription on this thing that can tell me what I want to know…_

Though he looked high and low, the doctor could not find anything that would help his cause. That was, until he spotted something hiding underneath the smaller cauldron on the platform. Robotnik had no Idea how he missed it the first time, but sitting _right there_ was the sacred Torch of Solaris. The doctor pressed a button on his control panel that sent out a small robotic arm to pick the torch up. The arm brought the torch up to the doctor’s face for inspection.

“The battle may be lost,” the doctor thought out loud, “but the war is _far_ from over.” He pressed another button, and the arm holding the torch put it in the pod’s cargo bay. Even after the setbacks brought on by the pesky hedgehog, there was still a chance that Ivo could still come out on top. The doctor directed his pod to return to the ship. He had work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter had a little over a thousand more words than the last. I see this as definite proof that I have completely lost control of my life. Either way, the other chapters are coming along smoothly, and I've begun making an outline of what I'm going to do after chapter 6. The chapter release schedule might get a little wonky because I'll probably be back in school by then. Any way, If you have seen the video this fic is based on, then you know what next chapter is going to be about, and I hope you are as excited as I am for it!
> 
> Once again, if you notice anything wrong with spelling/grammar, please let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!


	3. Shadows of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G.U.N has sent agents Shadow and Rouge to Soleanna. Their mission: Investigate Doctor Robotnik's activity in the city, and prevent him from taking over the city. With the help of Miles 'Tails' Prower, the agents successful infiltrated the Doctor's flying base, but what they find inside might be a way bigger problem than robots and mechs.

The roar of jet engines ripped through the night as a black fighter jet soared over Soleanna. Cannons and turrets aboard the Egg Carrier took aim at the approaching aircraft, unleashing a volley of high-caliber rounds and shells. The jet rolled and swerved in between the oncoming projectiles, swooping high and low over the city. Once the Egg Carrier was within range, the jet pulled up sharply before releasing its small payload of missiles. A direct hit to a cluster of turrets gave the jet just enough of an opening to flip upside down, open the glass canopy, and let two figures fall from the back of the cockpit.

Tails, who had been providing air support to his friends on the ground, saw the unknown arrivals fall, and altered course to intercept them. The fox dove to catch the free-falling figures just before they went below the roofline. On the wings of the small biplane stood a bat with white fur, and a black hedgehog with red stripes along the topside of his quills.

“Nice catch, Tails!” said the bat on the right wing. The hedgehog on the left only nodded in agreement.

“Rouge, Shadow!” exclaimed the little orange fox, “You guys made it just in time! Look, I need you to do me a huge favor. Eggman’s after something called the ‘Flames of Solaris.’ We think he might have something on his ship that could help us out.”

“Good ol’ fashioned breaking-and-entering?” Rouge asked with a smirk. “I like the sound of that.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow at Tails. “Isn’t Sonic here with you?”

“He is, but he’s busy helping out on the ground. So, you two think you can get onto the Egg carrier?”

“That’s what we’re here for, sugar,” replied Rouge. “Official G.U.N. business, so we can’t tell you everything we find, but we’ll give you the important details as soon as we get back.”

“Thanks, Rouge. Now, hold on. Things might get a little bumpy,” Tails said as he took the throttle lever and pushed it to the firewall. The plane’s engine began to spin the propeller even faster as they started to climb towards the giant airship. Tails pulled into an upwards spiral, trying to dodge the fire from the Egg Carrier’s cannons. The fox spotted a bay door opening to release more robots onto the city, and swooped the plane into the direction of the opening, narrowly avoiding the rain of bullets from the turrets.

“One more thing before you go!” Tails called to the agents on his wings. With the push of a button, a small compartment on the inside of the cockpit opened, revealing a brilliant green gem. Rouge gasped as her eyes widened and sparkled when she beheld the magnificent jewel.

“You just keep a Chaos Emerald with you?!”

“I’ve been saving it for a rainy day. Plus, I’ve been trying to see if it will work as a power source for the next version of the Tornado,” Tails explained. He took the chaos emerald, and carefully handed it up to Shadow. Shadow took the emerald and thanked Tails with a nod. 

“Okay,” confirmed Tails, “See you guys in a few minutes. I’ll stay close, so I can pick you up when you’re done.” 

With that, Shadow and Rouge leapt from the biplane towards the door. Shadow saw the door begin to close, and held out the Emerald to his partner. She reached out and took hold of the jewel as a light flashed, and they disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the door.

The duo repositioned themselves in the air to land on their feet just as the bay doors shut and locked behind them. “We definitely could have made that,” remarked Rouge, looking back at the sealed doors.

Shadow replied in a gruff voice, “Hmph. Better safe than sorry. It’s not going to be that easy in here.” He focused his mind on the chaos emerald, and in a flash, it disappeared into a pocket dimension.

“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine,” Rouge teased.

The duo hurried over to a service door on the side of the hangar, which led to the inner workings of the ship. A narrow catwalk weaved between the rooms of the ship, pipes and electrical cables reaching high into the heart of the Egg Carrier. Shadow and Rouge stopped at a corner when they heard footsteps approaching from a perpendicular catwalk. A lone Egg pawn with special decals denoting its role as a repair drone walked to the intersection of the catwalks. It looked down one side of the hallway, and then the other. The robot barely had enough time to even register Shadow and Rouge’s presence before the hedgehog delivered a powerful axe-kick to the top of its head. The pawn crumpled under the impact, its LED smile flickered off as it lost power.

Climbing over the mangled robot, the agents continued to navigate the immense labyrinth of the ship. They came to another service door, and through its small window, Shadow could see two Egg pawns sitting in swivel chairs and watching monitors displaying camera feeds from all over the ship. The hedgehog carefully opened the door just enough for rouge to toss a small metal orb adorned with a bright pink heart emblem into the room. The two mechanical guards looked down at the object before an electromagnetic pulse burst from the orb, frying their electronics. The two then slipped into the room to discuss the next phase of their plan.

Rouge clicked a button on a device around her wrist, projecting a holographic map of the Egg Carrier. “Okay… It looks like we’re right here,” she pointed to a small room near the outer hull, then to a much larger room on the other side of the ship. “Intel suggests that the Doctor’s laboratory is over here. Will we be having any company on the way?” 

Shadow studied the few monitors around the room not destroyed by the EMP. Several large groups of Egg Pawns were mobilizing to the hangars to be dropped on the city below. “Maybe,” he replied, “Do you see anyway we can get to the lab undetected?”

Rouge zoomed in on the map, and traced what looked like a maze of vents to the laboratory. “It’s almost a straight shot through the air ducts.” The bat smirked at Shadow, “And you said this wasn’t gonna be easy.”

“You just take care of the security on the inside of the lab,” The hedgehog said, ignoring his partner’s teasing. “I’ll handle any robots I come across on the way.” Rouge nodded in confirmation before leaping up to a vent on the ceiling. She kicked the grate in, and climbed up into the Carrier’s internals. Shadow engaged the thrusters in the soles of his shoes, and skated out the door to the main halls of the ship.

Shadow listened closely for any sound of approaching robots as he navigated the maze of steel corridors. Having memorized the map provided to him a Rouge, he had no trouble staying on the path to the laboratory. Take a left here, then straight, left again, right turn here.

As the black hedgehog came to another intersecting hallway, he heard the sounds of approaching footsteps. He quickly rushed to the wall closest to the noise, making himself flush with the metallic surface. Shadow watched as a platoon of Egg Pawns rushed down the perpendicular corridor, their loud and heavy footsteps resonating on the steel floor. Once the troupe had gotten a safe distance away, the hedgehog quickly turned the corner. He had hardly taken a single step when he smacked his head into a cold, hard object in his way. He rubbed his head at the point of impact, and looked up to see what he had run into. Large supply crates rested on a levitating cart, behind which peered another an Egg Pawn with emblems that marked it as a service robot. The machine had already turned and ran back down the hall it came from by the time Shadow jumped to his feet to give chase.

Once the Egg Pawn reached an intersection, it turned down the hallway on its right. Shadow knew that it was in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go, but he could not risk an alarm being sounded. The robot led him into a large cargo hold, with Egg Pawn soldiers keeping watch over various crates. When Shadow entered the room, all the guards turned and drew their weapons at the hedgehog, but he only focused on the robot B-lining for an alarm switch on the other side of the room.

“Chaos spear!” called Shadow as he wound up his arm before throwing a bolt of pure energy at his target. The shot tore a hole straight through the fleeing robot’s body, and obliterated the alarm on the other side. Egg Pawns on the floor and catwalks above returned fire. With the aid of his thrusters, Shadow dodged and weaved through the hail of blaster shots.

“Chaos Control!” the hedgehog shouted. With bright flash, he disappeared and reappeared behind an Egg Pawn on the catwalks above. He slammed both of his fists down on the unsuspecting robot’s head, caving it in. Another flash, and Shadow was now next to the dead robot’s companion. He took hold of the soldier’s blaster, struggling against the Egg Pawn’s mechanical strength. Using all the leverage he had, Shadow wrenched the weapon from the robot’s hands, sending it over the railing in the process. The robot crashed into another Egg Pawn below, the impact crushing them both.

With three well paced shots, Shadow took out the guards on the catwalk on the opposite side of the room. Only three Egg Pawns remained on the floor, huddled with their backs to each other. The black hedgehog teleported once again, appearing in the middle of the three robots. With a sweeping kick, the robots were sent into the air. A flurry of chaos spears dispatched them before they even hit the ground. Shadow did a quick check to make sure there were no stragglers, or that no reinforcements were coming. Seeing that the coast was clear, The hedgehog engaged his thrusters, and skated off towards the lab. He silently admonished himself for not hearing the service bot coming. Perhaps the Egg Pawn’s loud marching threw off his hearing...

-

A loud crash rang out through Doctor Eggman’s laboratory when a vent grate fell to the floor, followed by a white bat. Rouge assumed a fighting stance once she landed, EMP grenades in each hand. However, seeing that she was alone in the room, she eased up. The grenades folded in on themselves until they were the size of miniature marbles, and the bat stowed them away in a tiny pouch on the inside of her gloves. She crept over to the lab’s main entrance, and got to eye level with a small keypad. Producing a small USB drive from her glove, Rouge inserted the device into a socket on the underside of the keypad. She pushed the singular button on the side of the drive, brining it to life. The script contained on the drive went to work sorting through dozens of combinations per second, trying to unlock the doors.

From the other side of the door, Rouge heard the sounds of a fight raging outside. Metallic crashes and clangs resonated through the walls along with the sounds Of blasters firing. One by one, robots just outside the lab fell to their assailant.

BANG!

A sizeable dent protruded from the wall as the last remaining robot was slammed into it. As if on cue, the keypad flashed green and dinged when the USB’s code finally got the correct combination. The lab doors opened to reveal a black hedgehog surrounded by broken egg pawns.

Rouge whistled at the sight. “Have fun out there?” she asked.

“Let’s just get what we came for and get out of here,” Shadow replied sternly, brushing bits of circuit board off his shoulder.

The bat sighed, “All work and no play, as usual.”

The duo made their way to a massive computer monitor that took up most of the wall it was mounted to. Shadow crossed his arms as Rouge activated the computer, only to be met with a prompt asking for her to enter a password.

“He always uses the same password of everything. Watch this,” said Rouge as she typed in ‘Rob0tnik_rulez’ into the dialogue box. She noticed that this elicited a chuckle from her typically stoic partner. 

“So you do know how to smile,” Rouge teased. This time, Shadow only responded with an annoyed glare. “Alright, alright, let’s see what we got here…” She produced another small thumb drive from her glove, and plugged it into the computer.

Rouge searched the computer for any files that could give them an idea as to what Eggman was up to. Shadow, on the other hand took a moment to study the lab. He found little out of the ordinary for a research facility: tables, cabinets and testing equipment. The one thing he did find strange was a large, cylindrical glass holding tank in the far corner of the room that stretched from floor to ceiling. Inside the tank was a swirling cloud of black smoke. Curiosity got the better of the hedgehog, and he walked over to the tank for closer inspection.

Shadow brought his face close to the glass, studying the smoke inside as it twisted and turned around itself. A small split in the cloud began to form, and slowly spread to reveal something within. A pair of tired, blue eyes stared out from the smoke, meeting the hedgehog’s gaze. The eyes glowed like embers in the dark cloud, and peered into Shadow’s soul.

“Hey, Shadow, you might want to come see this,” Rouge called to her partner. As he made his way back (a little hurriedly, the bat noticed), she opened a file simply labeled ‘Solaris.’ Handwritten notes, as well as a few images depicting Princess Elise, as well as an older looking bird that neither of them recognized, flashed onto the screen.

“Okay,” The bat read, “Soleanna, City of Water. Current monarch: Princess Elise the Third. She ascended to the throne ten years ago after the previous monarch, The Duke of Soleanna, was killed in an experimental energy solutions test that went wrong.”

“Anything on these so-called ‘Flames of Solaris’?” Shadow questioned.

Rouge scrolled through the document. “Well, at least he’s putting his doctorate to good use. He’s actually done proper research,” she commented. Pages and pages scrolled by as the bat tried to find any useful information among the Doctor’s chicken scratch. She stopped at a passage that caught her eye, and continued reading. “Here we go. Solaris, worshiped deity of Soleanna, and supposed holder of the sun. Ancient texts describe the creature as one being comprised of three entities that watch over the kingdom: Iblis, meaning strength, carries the sun across the sky, turning nigh into day and day into night. Mephiles, meaning either mind or spirit, depending on the context, looks into the passage of time to guide those who have lost their way. Finally, Inerste, the soul, is the compassion of Solaris, Eternally watching over and protecting the citizens of Soleanna.”

“I doubt new vocabulary was high on Eggman’s priorities,” remarked the Black hedgehog.

“Oh thank goodness, he left a voice recording,” Rouge sighed when she spotted an embedded audio file near the end of the document, “His penmanship is atrocious.” She clicked on the play button, and the duo listened as Robotnik’s voice played through the computer’s speakers.

“Once a year, the kingdom of Soleanna gathers in the main city to participate in The Festival of the Sun. A celebration of their god, Solaris. The monarch takes a special torch to the center of the city, which is lit with Solaris’s flame just as the sun sets via an unknown mechanism. The old legends say that the monarch is capturing the sun itself, but that’s preposterous. Once the monarch reaches the heart of Soleanna, they then light The Grand Cauldron with the torch, where Solaris rests until sunrise. The citizens pay their respects though celebration before the flame is transferred back to the torch, and is taken out to the horizon where the day begins anew, and Solaris will continue to watch over the kingdom for the next year. The flames are said have the power of a god, able to peer into the flow of time itself, which raises the question: can that power be harnessed, or more importantly, weaponized?”

Just then, the lab doors open, and a lone Egg pawn walked into the room. The three exchanged a look, and the robot drew its weapon, firing several shots into the room. Shadow and Rouge dove for cover as the energy blasts ricocheted around the room, a few stray shots hitting the glass tank. Shadow quickly skated to the robot, expertly dodging any fire that came his way. With a swift kick to the head, he took out the robot, and the commotion settled. 

Rouge gasped as she noticed the smoke inside the tank began to leak through cracks in the broken glass. Strangely, the smoke did not disperse through the room. Instead, it pooled on the floor, forming a tar-like puddle. A figure slowly rose from the black sludge, standing nearly double Rouge’s height. The Figure took a deep breath, ant the tar covering its body was absorbed into it. Standing in front of the agents was a tall bird wearing an old lab coat, tattered around the wrists and hem. Its white feathers were ruffled, and looked like they were covered in ash. Patches of exposed skin had the texture of, and smoldered like charcoal.

“But that’s-” Shadow started as his eyes flickered between the bird and the images on the computer monitor. The thing standing before them was the late duke of Soleanna.

The Duke exhaled, and a puff of snake and blue embers rose from his beak and nostrils. His eyes opened, and they were the same as the ones Shadow saw in the tank. The Duke lifted his hands to his face and examine them. They, too, occasionally flickered with deep blue embers and wisps of blue flame as they crackled throughout the lab. The bird spoke with a low, rumbling voice.

“Interesting…” The Duke closed his fists, one after the other. “As they were bound to her, I was bound to him.” He looked up at Shadow and Rouge. “How twisted fate can be…”

Shadow stepped forward, masking the unease building inside him. “Who are you?!” he demanded.

The Duke raised his eyebrows, “Who am I, indeed. I am no longer who I was, nor am I who I resemble. I am a figment of who I was, a memory of who I am, and a promise of who I will be. A muffled spirit of the past, present and future.” The duke flashed a smile that chilled both agents to the bone. “I am Mephiles.”

Alarms blared through the lab as the sound of Egg Pawns approaching grew louder. Shadow and Rouge looked to the doorway as the room was flooded with emergency lights. Mephiles, however, raised a burning had to a nearby wall, and a stream of hot smoke and embers spewed from under its old lab coat. Once a near perfectly circular hole had been melted through the wall, the lab rapidly depressurized. Loose objects were sucked out the opening while Shadow and Rouge reached out to hold on to whatever they could. When Shadow got a firm grip, he summoned the chaos emerald from its pocket dimension, and into his hand. He reached the emerald out to his partner, but before she could grab it and teleport out of the lab, Mephiles’s hand detached from his arm and grabbed the jewel. Heat spread through the magic gem, forcing Shadow to let go. The hand retracted along a tether made from dark smoke and blue embers back to Mephiles’s wrist.

“For eons, we watched over this land, reborn from ashes to protect them” Mephiles spoke again, looking down at the Chaos Emerald “And how were we repaid? They shattered us, and locked me in a cage. But, if I can be reborn in fire, perhaps this broken world should do the same.” With that, he dissolved into smoke, taking the Emerald with him.

Shadow rushed to the opening as Mephiles was whisked away and Rouge extracted the thumb drive. Rouge joined Shadow at the hole, and saw Tails flying off in the distance. The fox must have seen them too, as he swerved to get closer to the Egg Carrier. The duo leapt out and landed on the biplane’s wings just as the lab was flooded with a swarm of Egg Pawns.

“What was That?! I saw smoke. Was there a fire?” The fox questioned with concern.

“No, that was… Something else,” Shadow replied, not quite sure what just happened himself.

Tails glanced at Shadow’s empty hands. “Wait, where’s the Chaos Emerald?” He looks over to Rouge, who only grimaced. “Aww, man. And today was going so well…” Tails reached for the radio on the dashboard. “Sonic, are you there? Come in!”

“Hey, Tails,” Sonic replied from the other side of the radio. “The Princess and I are safe for the moment. What’s going on?”

“Shadow and Rouge just got back from the Egg Carrier, and, well… Let’s just say things got a  _ lot _ more complicated.”

The plane swerved away from the airship as Tails and Rouge give a summary of the events that transpired just moments ago. A gray hedgehog clung to the undercarriage, unbeknownst to the pilot, and listened for anything that could help him on his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, main villain is now active, and it only took three chapters. I wanted to add a few small snippets to make Mephiles more threatening, and decided Shadow getting spooked would be the best way to do that. As if a piece of a fractured god walking around in a rotting corpse wasn't freaky enough already. 
> 
> Any way, the next chapter is pretty short, so it should be coming out soon. Hopefully.


	4. Scattered to the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and Elise have made it to relative safety, for now. However, when Shadow and Rouge return from the Egg Carrier, the news they bring may throw a particularly large wrench into his plans.

A lone Egg Pawn walked down an empty street of the now quiet Soleanna. The soft glow of the streetlamps, still lit by the ceremonial flame at the center of the city, bathed the rows of townhouses and cobblestone streets in a warm amber. Had the machine’s creator given it the ability to analyze aesthetics, perhaps it would find the city beautiful in a surreal sort of way. 

A low rumble emanate below the robot’s feet, and it sunk about half an inch into the floor. It looked down to see what caused the disturbance, only for the ground to give way, dropping the Egg pawn into a deep tunnel.

A surprised scream, followed by a metallic smash, echoed in the night as the Egg Pawn’s decapitated head flew out of the hole. The robot’s body soon followed, along with a pink hedgehog and a red echidna.

“ _Knuckles_ ,” The pink hedgehog scolded the echidna, “that was the fourth building you missed so far.”

“Oh, gimme a break, Amy! Visibility isn’t exactly great down there, you know.”

Amy rolled her eyes as she dusted off her skirt. She pulled out a radio and spoke into the microphone, “Tails, do you read me?”

A voice on the other end replied, “Loud and clear!”

The pink hedgehog looks back at the building nearest her and knuckles. “We’ve cleared out the outer limits, and are moving into the main city. Once we’re done, we’ll move onto the metropolitan area. How are things up there?”

“It’s going good,” the fox explained. “Shadow and Rouge are investigating the Egg Carrier. They said they’ll let us know if they find anything. As for Sonic, He’s currently busy keeping the Princess out of trouble-”

“Waitwaitwait, princess? You mean like a _princess_ , princess?”

“Is there another type of princess that I am unaware of?”

Amy let out a dejected sigh. “Aw, man… Sonic gets to hang out with royalty while I’m stuck here with Knuckles?”

“Hey, I’m _right here_!”

Tails stifled his laughter at the echidna’s offense. “Look,” he replied, “you two just keep evacuating civilians. I’ll let you guys know if there are any developments. Stay safe.”

With that, Amy and Knuckles dive back into the hole, and keep on digging. Just as they disappeared underground, a blue streak raced by the tunnel entrance, zigzagging through the empty street. The blur came to a small apartment building, and zipped inside.

-

Sonic carried Elise into an empty apartment. He set her down before quickly checking the door, then windows, for anyone who could have followed them. “Doesn’t look like anyone is after us,” the hedgehog said, “but just to be safe…” The door locked with a soft _click_. The Princess sighed as she sat down on the bed and rubbed her temples. A lot had happened tonight, and she needed a moment to think.

“So, did you know that Silver guy?” Sonic asked as he looked out the window, watching for Egg Pawns.

“Not really. I mean, I saw him earlier today, but I didn’t _know_ him, or that he had… abilities. How do _you_ know this ‘Eggman’ character?”

“Oh, we go _way_ back. To make a long story short, he’s always been causing trouble, and me and my friends have always been there to stop him. I just hope Silver won’t be a problem. Eggman is already a pain as is.” 

Just then, Tails’ voice blared from the radio, “Sonic, are you there? Come in!” The two could hear the urgency in the fox’s words.

“Hey, Tails. The Princess and I are safe for the moment. What’s going on?”

“Shadow and Rouge just got back from the Egg Carrier, and, well… Let’s just say things just got a _lot_ more complicated. They found something on the ship, and it stole the Chaos Emerald.”

Sonic’s eyes widened at this revelation. “Wait, it _what_?!” he exclaimed. Elise leaned in to listen more closely.

Another, more feminine voice came through the radio. She recounted the events aboard the airship: the infiltration, the documents she found, and a strange being she called ‘Mephiles.’ The latter caught the Princess’s attention the most. “Mephiles is an ancient Soleannan word, meaning ‘spirit’,” she muttered, resting her head in her hands. “But why would someone want to call themselves _that_?” 

“To sound scary?” Sonic shrugged. He saw Elise’s face fall with concern, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ll sort this mess out,” the hedgehog reassured. Elise only replied with a meek smile.

“Hey, Rouge,” Tails piped up from the radio, “you mentioned that Mephiles was ‘shattered’ ten years ago. Didn’t the files you found say that the Solaris project happened around that time?”

“Yeah, the records say that there was an accident at the Royal Laboratory in Kingdom Valley…”

Elise immediately perked up at the mention of that name. “My father’s lab,” she muttered. “That’s where the old castle is. My father retrofitted it to be a laboratory before I was born, but ever since the accident, I was never allowed to go back.” The Princess looked out the window and to the mountains just outside the city. Sonic came up behind her.

The hedgehog asked with a raised eyebrow, “Wanna go find out why?”

“Absolutely,” the Princes confirmed before jumping into sonic’s arms. With an outstretched hand pointing to the door, she commanded, “Onward, to Kingdom Valley!”

With that, Sonic rocketed out of the apartment and out into the streets.

-

Shadow looked out over the city, sitting on the left wing of Tail’s plane. Suddenly, a voice emanate from a communication device on his wrist. “Agent Shadow, Agent Rouge, come in. Multiple facilities have been broken into by an unknown entity.” Shadow and rouge exchanged a worried, knowing look. “Be advised, this entity is extremely hostile, and was last seen headed toward White Acropolis. Requesting immediate backup.”

“This is Agent Shadow. Agent Rouge and I are on our way.”

“Copy that.”

Rouge let out a sigh, “That can’t be good… Tails, can you drop us off at the outskirts? We need to catch a ride to White Acropolis right away.”

Tails looked up at the bat and nodded. Putting the plane into full throttle, he swooped away from the city.

-

Silver listened carefully to the conversations happening above him. _Oh, great,_ he thought to himself, _Now I have this ‘Mephiles’ guy to worry about._

The gray hedgehog looked down to see a blue streak racing in the general direction of the mountains outside the city. Blaze’s words echoed in his mind.

“Follow the wind.”

  
Reluctantly, he let go of the plane’s undercarriage just as it swooped away. Enveloping himself in a teal glow, he flew off as fast as he could after the blue streak. _This time for sure_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of a shorter chapter, just establishing where everyone's going for the next chapter. Plus, it's nice to take a break from the action now and then.
> 
> As always, let me know if there are any mistakes, and thank you for reading.


	5. Voices in the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and Elise, with Silver in toe, are on their way to Kingdom Valley to uncover the secrets kept by the late Duke's laboratory. However, time has left the castle in a rather unfortunate state, and a purple extra-dimensional cat in a perplexing situation.

Sonic and Elise followed an old, forgotten road deep into the mountains. Pale moonlight reflected off great granite cliffs and a rushing stream in the center of the valley. The trees grew denser the further away the two got from the city. Shadows blanketed the path, but years of adventuring had made Sonic quite adept at navigating in darkness. He weaved through the mountain forest, never breaking pace. However, as he moved forward, he could not help but feel something was off.

The blue hedgehog’s ears flicked around to pick up any faint signal, only to be met with nothing. “Hey,” he said to avian princess, “do you hear that?”

Elise listened for whatever was putting Sonic on edge, but was similarly met with silence. “I don’t hear anything,” she replied.

“Yeah… exactly…”

It was only a few hours after midnight. There should have been a plethora of sounds coming from all the nocturnal animals and insects that live in the forest. They were not far from the river that carved out the valley. They should have been able to hear the water’s turbulence, but other than the sound of wind rushing past their ears, the night was dead quiet. The unease that settled over the blue hedgehog now spread to Elise.

“Look,” Sonic said, “just keep your eyes peeled for anything that looks suspicious. We have no idea what could be waiting for us at the castle.”

The princess nodded in confirmation. Sonic tightened his grip, and accelerated deeper into valley.

-

Just above the forest canopy, Silver flew right behind the blue blur. He maintained a careful balance between being close enough to track Sonic and Elise, but also far enough away to not allow his teal aura to alert them of his presence. As he followed them, he noticed that the night had become eerily quiet.

The gray hedgehog’s concentration was broken when he flew past a small figure silhouetted against the moon. Quickly doubling back to see what it was, Silver flew up to a seemingly stationary dragonfly. Upon closer inspection, he realized that not only was this insect not moving from its place in the air, but its wings seemed to be flapping in reverse, as well. As much as he would have liked to further study this creature, Silver knew he had a much more important task at hand. Quickly, he turned back mountains, and darted off after Sonic.

-

The further into the forest Sonic went, the more the pathway beneath him was consumed by the undergrowth, making it difficult for him to keep his heading. Eventually, his persistence paid off, as he and Elise came to a clearing in the wood. Before them was a pristine lake, its motionless surface illuminated by the moon above. In the center of the lake was an enormous castle, towers and spires stretching towards the sky. From their vantage point, Sonic and Elise could see that the structure was clearly falling apart, but the debris was strangely suspended in the air.

“Is this the place?” Sonic inquired.

“Yes,” Elise responded, “My father’s lab is inside the castle.”

Needing no further instruction, Sonic rocketed off across the lake, carrying the Princess with him. With each step the hedgehog took on the water’s surface, a tall spray of water was left in his wake. Once each droplet reached the apex of their arc, they settled in the air, never to fall again.

When the two reached the other side of the natural moat, the blue hedgehog began circling the outer walls. The walls were far too high to jump or climb over, and the gatehouse had been sealed off years ago. Luckily for them, however, a few crenelations had fallen off of a section of wall on the castle’s eastern side. The debris, frozen in place mid-fall, formed a vague pathway to the top of the wall. With a few precise jumps, Sonic carried Elise up and onto the ramparts.

Inside the walls, the damage done to the castle became much more apparent. Nearly every building was covered in ivy, falling apart, or both. Chunks of heavy stone brick and collapsed roof were strewn about the bailey, the sight bringing a frown to Elise’s face. She remembered this place being so  _ lively _ , but now… It just felt like it had been dead for centuries. The princess wondered what her parents would say if they saw their ancestral home in such a sorry state. At least the keep and great hall were mostly intact, though she doubted they fared much better through the years.  _ Speaking of which… _

“See the great hall over there? The laboratory is in there, downstairs.” Elise pointed to a large building, adorned with intricate stained-glass windows and supported by tall flying buttresses. On one nd of the hall was an immense square tower, its four corners tipped with thin spires that reached for the heavens. 

“Alright. Let’s go see what your old man was up to,” Sonic replied with a smirk. With that, he sprinted along the walls and to the great hall.

Once the hedgehog came to the once grand palace, he began searching for any possible entrance. The heavy oak doors at the front of the hall wouldn’t budge, and all the other doors around the building were either blocked by debris, or similarly locked. Seeing no other way in, the duo decided that the only way in is through the large windows. Sonic took a few steps back, lining himself up with the window. Elise braced herself for what was to come. With a running start, he leapt into the air, tucking his legs in before extending them out towards the window just before impact.

__ _ CRASH! _

The sound of glass shattering tore through the night’s eerie silence as Sonic and Elise landed in the great hall. Both the hedgehog and princess curled up as tight as they could to shield themselves from the falling shards. Once the glass had settled, Sonic checked himself for lacerations before checking the Princess.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Elise replied. “You can put me down now.”

The hedgehog did as he was told. As soon as the princess got to her feet, both she and Sonic were startled by the sudden sound of torches and candles flaring to life. All around them, dormant chandeliers and wall-mounted torches spontaneously ignited with bright, green flames. The new light illuminated the inside of the great hall which, much to the surprise of the duo, was almost immaculate. Other than the recently broken window, the interior was just as pristine as the day the castle was abandoned. 

“Whoa,” Sonic and Elise breathed in unison.

The walls of the great hall were decorated with collections of swords, fanning out above the helmets of empty suits of armor standing at attention. Paintings of monarchs from centuries past looked sternly down into the hall. The stained windows, at least the ones that were still intact, depicted a glorious phoenix watching over the kingdom, its ruler and its people.

The blue hedgehog whistled at the sight. “Wow. You used to live here?”

“Not exactly,” the princess explained, “Kingdom Valley hasn’t been the Royal Residence for a little over a century, but with all the time my father spent here, I might as well have.” A sad smile drew itself upon Elise’s face as she recalled her childhood. “Mother and Father would chase me up and down these halls for hours on end. It seemed every day I was discovering some new secret passage or hiding spot. But that all changed when Mother got sick…” Her smile faded as memories of her mother’s death came into her mind. The years following her passing had been hard for Elise, but she believed that they somehow made her stronger. “A-anyway, we didn’t come here for me to mope. We have to find my father’s lab and figure out who this ‘Mephiles’ guy is.”

The princess led Sonic to a grand staircase at the end of the great hall, leading down into the foundations of the castle. With each step she took, a pair of torches on the walls of the staircase came to life with the same green flame as the ones before. Elise was only eight years old, the last time she was here, and she silently prayed that she could remember the layout of the hallways below. 

-

Silver waited for Sonic and Elise to finish their conversation before flying in through the shattered window and  _ ever so carefully _ landing away from any glass shards that could give him away. He watched the princes and the blue hedgehog climb down the staircase to the lab, and once they were far enough away, trailed them as silently as he could. Once he was down in the underground hallways, he had to be extra careful to not only keep his footsteps silent, but to also keep track of all the turns they took in the maze.

_ Left, straight, another left, right, straight again… _

The gray hedgehog was caught off guard when the duo ahead came to a door on their left. Rather than pass by, they decided to investigate. Silver panicked, he could not let them know he was following them. He scrambled to the nearest possible hiding spot, a section of wall that had, at some point, caved in. If he had made any noise in his haste, neither Sonic nor Elise noticed. From the small alcove, Silver could overhear Sonic opening the door.

“Nope. Not a lab,” he said nonchalantly. Sonic shut the door, and he and Elise continued down the hall. “So, anyway, you seem to know a lot about all this ‘Solaris’ stuff. You have any Idea on what the Solaris project could have been?” 

As The blue hedgehog’s voice began to fade in the distance, Silver emerged from his hiding place and resumed his stealthy pursuit. When he came to the door, however, curiosity got the better of him.  _ A little peak couldn’t hurt… _

Silver Opened the door as quietly as he could, and his jaw immediately dropped when he saw what was inside. An absolutely massive, three story library lay before him. Never in his life had the gray hedgehog ever seen a collection of books this big and so…  _ unburnt _ before. There must have been  _ thousands _ of books on the first floor alone! Silver had completely forgotten about Sonic and Elise at this point, and rushed into the library. After all, books had never let him down before.

-

“So, anyway, you seem to know a lot about all this ‘Solaris’ stuff. You have any Idea on what the Solaris project could have been?” 

Elise took a moment to think of an answer to Sonic’s question. “Well… not  _ really _ . Officially, it was some sort of energy solution experiment, as you know, but I have no clue as to what my father was actually up to. After my mother passed, he got sucked deep into his work, and I had to start training for becoming the new monarch. Father and I barely had any time to talk.” The princess’s face fell once more as she told of her father. Sonic, however, was too engrossed in her story to notice. “I would only ever come down to his lab to practice for the ceremony at the Festival of the Sun. The clerics had me carry a dummy torch to the lab, recite the speeches, and then send me on my way. Strangely, Father would always say that ‘Mother  _ will _ be so proud of me,’ instead of ‘ _ would _ be.’ One day, Father thought I was old enough to handle the real torch. I remember taking it into the lab, and using the torch to light a cauldron in the middle of the room. For a while, the flame lingered, but when Father flew a switch, things went wrong. The flames waved and twisted violently, like some sort of wind was trying to snuff it out. Eventually, the flames died, and my father began yelling at me to get out of the lab. He had  _ never _ yelled at me before. I was so scared that I was in trouble, or did something wrong. I froze, and just as Father was coming to take me out of the room, the cauldron exploded. There was a flash of green before everything went dark, and I woke up in a hospital bed the next day. Ever since then, I was forbidden to return here.”

Sonic’s own expression became more somber as the princess’s story continued. There was a pause as the hedgehog searched for the right words to respond, “Jeez, that’s…  _ heavy _ …”

“Sorry, that probably wasn’t the answer you were looking for...” Elise sighed, refusing to meet Sonic’s gaze. “ But now that we’re here, we both might just get the answers we need.”

The Princess’ expression shifted to one of determination. She picked up her pace, and led the blue hedgehog further into the tunnel. Eventually, the halfway came to an end, where they were met with a heavy double oak door.  _ This had to be it _ , Elise thought to herself. 

She signalled for Sonic to help her push the door open. Once they were both in position, they shoved the door with all their might. Its rusted hinges not only resisted the duo’s force, but also let the door sag just enough to scrape along the floor. However, the friction could not keep the door closed forever. Sonic and Elise managed to push the door open just enough to slip into the room beyond.

Unlike the great hall above, the old laboratory was a complete wreck. Scorch marks stretched across the floor and up the walls, some in the vague outline of a person. The remnants of high-tech equipment and machinery lay in mangled pieces around the room. The windows to observation rooms off to the side of the lab were either broken or missing entirely. A shattered cauldron sat atop a pedestal in the center of the room, the origin point of the scorch marks. Though the destruction was spectacular, it was not what immediately caught the princess and hedgehog’s attention. Instead, it was a ring of brilliantly collared, rectangular gemstones on the floor. 

“Do you hear that?” Elise asked the hedgehog.

“Hear what?”

“That voice,” The princess explained, pointing to the ring of jewels. “It sounds like it’s coming from in there…”

Sonic, as one could imagine, was perplexed by this. He glanced at the gems, and then at Elise, who was cautiously approaching them. After taking a few steps forward, she slowly reached her feathered hand out to the ring. As approached small wisps of bright-green flame rose from her hand. She quickly recoiled with a gasp. Surprisingly, when the princess checked her hand, it was unburnt.

“Okay, maybe we should leave those alone,” said Sonic as he placed a hand on Elise’s shoulder. She quickly shrugged him off, causing the hedgehog to put his hands up and back away a few steps. The princess looked back at Sonic to ensure he would not interfere before turning back to the gems. She once again reached her hand out, and the green flames returned. Though they were warm, the fire still did not burn her. The jewels seemed to react to Elise, glowing brighter as she inched closer. Once her flaming hand crossed over the ring, a swirling vortex of flame erupted from the gems. Red, green and blue fire danced in a blazing tornado that stretched to the lab’s high ceiling. The twisting inferno put Elise in a trance-like state as she continued closer. Her trance was broken when something inside the vortex took hold of her hand.

The princess yelped in surprise as the thing behind the fiery wall began to pull her in. “Sonic,” she called out, “Something’s got my hand! Quick, help me pull!”

Sonic did as he was told, grabbing onto Elise’s outstretched arm. They both pulled and pulled, until another gloved hand emerged from the swirling fire. With one last heave, the two fell backwards, yanking the person from the tornado. The hedgehog took a moment to recover. He turned to the princess to help her to her feet, and just as he was about to ask if Elise was alright, he was cut off by another voice. A voice that he recognized.

“W-what just happened?”

Standing on the opposite side of the room was a purple feline wearing white leggings and a violet overcoat, facing the wall. Sonic’s eyes widened in surprise.  _ That couldn’t possibly be… _

“Blaze?”

The cat looked back to him, equally as shocked. “Sonic?”

Sonic got to his feet before stammering, “Wha-... How did you get here?”

“The Sol Emeralds,” Blaze explained, pointing to the ring of gems on the ground. “Is this your dimension?”

“Last time I checked, yeah,” the hedgehog shrugged.

“So,” the cat replied with a hand on her hip, “you and Tails were able to get back after we defeated Captain Whisker?”

“Uh… Who now?”

Blaze raised an eyebrow. “Captain Whisker, remember? He was after the jeweled scepter. He and Eggman were going to use it to destroy my world.”

The feline’s explanation only left Sonic more confused. “Sorry, but I have  _ no _ idea what you’re talking about. Last I saw you, you were headed back to your dimension after we beat Eggman.”

“Wait, you haven’t been there yet?” Blaze’s hand fell from her hip. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Elise off to the side, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“Uh, h-hello,” Elise managed to stammer out.

The cat gave her a once-over before stepping in a bit too close for the feathered princess’s liking, pointing a finger at her. “How did you get so  _ big _ ?” the feline asked.

“E-excuse me?”

“You were just a child a few seconds ago,” Blaze moved her finger to point at the Sol Emerald ring. “You were over there, and there was some kind of explosion. A scientist was helping you with your wounds and asking for help.”

“A scientist?”

Blaze brought her hand to her chin before continuing, “While I helped you with your burns, he carried this fancy torch away. It was making this really weird noise, and the flames were a deep red…”

Elise’s eyes widened. “If he had the torch, that must have been my father!”

The feline continued to murmur, “I waited for him to return, but another group of scientists came and took you away. I tried to get home with the Sol Emeralds, but then I ended up here, which is where I was, but also… not?”

The princess stepped forward. “W-what else did my father say?”

The cat ignored the question, now just talking to herself. “And the voices in the flames… They were so loud, and sounded like they were in pain.”

The princess reached out grab Blaze’s arm. “Please, just answer me!”

When Elise made contact, she erupted in a burst of bright-green flames that enveloped the entire room. Her figure was now shrouded in glowing green fire. A pair of green eyes stared directly into Blaze’ amber ones.

“Welcome back,” Elise’s beak moved, but a different voice entirely came out. The purple feline was stunned into silence.

“There isn’t much time, and I fear what is left may not be enough.”

“What is going on?!” Sonic cries out, terrified at the sight before him. He saw Elise’s mouth move, but heard nothing at all.

The princess turned to the hedgehog before continuing, “Two of us are awake, the third will follow soon.” She looked down to her hand, inspecting it. “I’m afraid I am not the one I resemble. At least, not in this moment.”

Sonic and Blaze exchanged a worried look before Blaze turned back to the princess and asked, “Who are you?”

“I am a figment of the past, a memory in the present to warn you of the future. A hopeful soul who has seen what is to come.” Hints of Elise’s voice began to be heard over the one speaking. “Ensure the princess has the torch. Only she can quell the rising fury.” Turning back to Blaze, the fading voice instructed, “There is another within the castle. Find him, and hold on to him. Ensure that he knows that what he fears is not what  _ will _ be, bust still  _ could  _ be.”

Before either Sonic or Blaze had time to reply, the flames were sucked back into Elise’s form. The princess was absolutely drained by the experience, and could not hold herself up. Before she collapsed, Sonic rushed over and caught her.

“What on earth was  _ that? _ ”

“A warning…”

Suddenly, the earth began to rumble as small pieces of debris fell from the ceiling. Blaze quickly ran over to the Sol Emeralds, placing her hand in the center of the ring. The gems shrunk to form a bracelet around her right wrist. 

As the ground continued to shake, larger and larger boulders fell from above until a small opening to the outside formed. Sonic took a barely conscious Elise in his arms and prepared to climb up the falling debris. Blaze, on the other hand, began running toward the passageways beneath the castle.

“Where are you going?!” the hedgehog called.

“There’s someone in the castle I have to find! I’ll meet you on the surface!” With that, she disappeared into the tunnels.

Leaping from boulder to boulder, Sonic carried Elise out of the collapsing laboratory. Once he reached the ground level, he found himself back inside the great hall. The roof and rafters above began to collapse as well, and the hedgehog did his best to dodge the falling beams and shingles. Using his supernatural speed, the blue blur used his head to ram the main doors open just as the hall began to cave in. Once outside, he immediately broke into a full sprint.

Sonic looked back to see the towering keep buckle and fall. The impact of the heavy stone sent a massive cloud of debris into the air. The hedgehog silently prayed that Blaze had found whoever she was looking for, and made it out safely.

-

Silver sat next to a pile of about thirty books, holding a torch above him with his powers as he read. He had started with a book on the history of Soleanna, thinking that could tell him the most relevant information. He came to a chapter discussing the Church of Solaris, and its importance to the kingdom’s structure.

“Soleanna is a place of Strength, Spirit and Soul,” he read, “On their own, one can do great things. Iblis carries our civilization. Inerste guides us towards our future in paradise. Mephiles keeps us who we are meant to be. It is when they are Unified that we are truly whole.”

The hedgehog’s eyes shifted to the opposite page, depicting three wave shapes overlapped to resemble a flame. One red, one green, one blue. The image was titled, ‘The Flames of Solaris.’ Each wave had a small line connecting it to a short blurb explaining their significance. The blue, Mephiles. The green, Inerste. The red, Iblis.

Silver stared off into space, remembering Blaze’s ominous words.  _ They consume because they are empty. No soul, no spirit to guide them. _ Images of the blood-red fire that covered his world flashed in his mind. “So,  _ that’s _ what you are,” the hedgehog muttered to himself.

Out of nowhere, the ground began to shake. “Oh, now what?” the hedgehog cursed. 

A piece of debris hit one of the tall bookshelves, knocking it over. Silver raised his hands and readied his psychokinesis to catch the shelf, but his concentration on the torch had broken. The torch fell onto his pile of books, setting them ablaze.

“No no no…”

Another bookshelf was knocked off balance. Silver caught it just as the fire began to spread to the other shelf. Rubble continued to pelt him from above, and the quickly rising fire began to starve him of oxygen.

“ _ SOMEBODY, HELP!” _ he cried in desperation. 

Just as he was about to give into the strain on his mind and body, the fire began to subside, allowing him to regain enough strength to push over the bookshelves. Silver grabbed the book he was reading before looking up to see someone standing in the library doorway.

“Are you alright?” the person asked. Silver could not believe his eyes as to who was standing before him. A purple cat reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

The cat pulled Silver to the door as a massive slab fell from the ceiling. The hedgehog lifted his hand holding the book to catch the falling stone, enveloping it in a teal aura. Though he could not stop its fall, he did manage to slow it down just enough to allow him ant the feline to escape.

“Well, that’s handy,” the cat remarked as they ran down the halls. “You got a name?”

“Silver,” he replied.

“Nice to meet you, Silver. My name’s Blaze.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you…”

The two rand down seemingly random hallways as the tunnels collapsed behind them. Too much adrenaline was rushing through Silver’s veins to remember the way out, so he put his trust in the feline leading him. They dodged falling bricks and rocks until the came to a small stairway leading upwards to a door. Blaze summoned a burst of fire to incinerate the door, giving her and Silver an opening to escape. The two got out just in time to hear the boom of the keep collapsing.

-

Sonic carried Elise back to the city as fast as his legs could carry him. The sun was now only a few minutes away from crawling over the horizon. The hedgehog found his friends waiting for him in a small park near the city center, the cauldron still burning with the ceremonial flame. A yellow fox and pink hedgehog were discussing something while a red echidna floated half asleep in a fountain. The hedgehog came to a stop and checked to see if Elise was awake enough to stand. She confirmed that she was fine, so Sonic put her down. The yellow fox and pink hedgehog came to meet them.

The pink hedgehog introduced herself as Amy Rose with a bow. She helped the princess stumble over to a nearby bench. The fox, on the other hand, went straight to Sonic.

“Hey, your back!” he exclaimed. “Did you find anything?”

Sonic took in a deep breath before blurting out, “OkaysowewererunningthroughthewoodsandeverythinggotreallyquietandeverythingwasfrozeninplaceandwhenwegotinsidethecastleabunchoftorcheslitupbythemselvesthenwegotdowntothelabandBlazewasthereshesalsofromthefutureexceptnotreallyandthenElisegotpossessedbyafiremonsterforacoupleofminutes-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down,” Tails cut him off, “I know speed is your thing, but this is a lot to take in.”

Sonic calmed himself before explaining the situation at a slightly less break-neck speed. Tails’ face fell as it became apparent that Sonic had, in fact, not learned much of note.

“I mean, it’s good that Blaze is back, I guess,” Tails sighed. 

“Look, we need to get to Elise’s fancy torch-thingy right away!” Sonic exclaimed before turning to the still groggy princess. “Where did you see it last?”

Elise spoke in a hoarse voice, “It… should be somewhere by the cauldron in the lake…” She slowly got to her feet, despite Amy’s protests.

“Your highness, you need to rest. You look like you’re about to puke your guts out!”

“Ugh… I feel like it, too… Just take me to the cauldron. I’m the only one who can carry the torch.”

Sonic nodded, and the entire group made their way to the heart of the city. Upon their arrival, they began frantically searching for the torch. They looked high and low, around the cauldron’s platform, and under the central pedestal. Knuckles even dove into the lake just to ensure that it had not fallen into the water. Elise was in full panic mode. If she could not finish the ritual, there was no telling what could happen.

“Welcome back, Princess.” 

The group’s attention was suddenly drawn to the Egg Carrier above them. They could hear a not-so-subtle hint of rage in Eggman’s announcement.

“I see that you’ve lost your torch. I would be more than happy to return it to you, in exchange for all the information about the Flames of Solaris, of course. After all…” The gargantuan airship shifted its position just enough to let the sun’s light was over the flaming cauldron. “... who better to learn from than the source!”

The ceremonial flames suddenly shifted color, turning a deep red. The inferno flared, increasing to nearly three times its original size. As the fire roared, the streetlamps followed, bursting their glass cages. Elise’s eyes were locked onto the blood-red flames before her. She wasn’t sure if it was just the last bits of her delirium messing with her head, but she could have sworn that she heard the flames screaming.

-

Silver and Blaze had just come out of the woods in the mountain valley. Still holding the book in his hand, Silver turned to the feline and asked, “So, you said you heard another voice coming from the princess that wasn’t hers?”

The purple cat furrowed her brow. “Yeah, it was weird. I’ve heard that voice before, but it was only one this time.”

“What do you mean?”

“The first time I had heard the voice, it was like there were two voices overlapping each other,” she explained, raising her wrist with the Sol Emeralds. “One was stern and the other was calm. But when the princess spoke, it was only the calm one.”

“But you heard an actual  _ voice _ .”

  
  


Blaze turned to her companion with a raised eyebrow, “Yes?”

Silver brought a hand to his chin and muttered, “So it’s not like before…”

The gray hedgehog noticed the cat staring at him, confused. “S-sorry“,” he stammered, “Just thinking out loud.” He blinked, and looked up to see thew sun just peeking over the horizon. “Well, there’s still a few things I wanted to ask you-”

The hedgehog was cut off by the sight of Blaze standing a few paces behind him, a horrified expression on her face. Silver whipped back around to see what had scared her, only for a similar fear wash over him. Out in the distance was the city of Soleanna, the Egg Carrier still hovering above it. Even from such a great distance, he could see the ceremonial flame in the center of the city. He watched in terror as its light changed from a warm orange and yellow, to an all too familiar blood-red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw yeah, Best Girl™ is back. 
> 
> Sorry about the long wait. This chapter turned out to be about twice as long as the others. The good news is that we are now one chapter away from moving on from Story Surgery's video. 
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading.


	6. Silence in the Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadow and Rouge arrive at White Acropolis to ensure the safety of a Chaos Emerald being held at the facility. Once they get there, they are informed by Omega that Mephiles has not been detected at the facility. However, just because something hasn't been detected, does not mean it isn't there.

Tails took Shadow and Rouge just outside the city where the jet they had arrived in was parked. Though the fox was more than willing to fly them all them way to White Acropolis, but the facility was in restricted airspace. Once landed, the two agents disembarked from the Tornado and boarded the stealthy, black fighter jet. Using a long and flat stretch of road as a runway, the jet took off into the night sky.

Shadow was silent the whole way to the facility. Rouge initially did not think anything of it; Shadow preferred to keep to himself, after all. Still, she could not help but feel that something was bothering her partner. She turned to the black hedgehog in the back seat of the cockpit. He wore his trademarked scowl, though he seemed deep in thought, not even noticing the bat looking at him. Rouge turned back to face forward. She decided that it would be better to ask him about it when they landed.

In truth, something _was_ bothering Shadow. Few things could scare him, but that _thing_ he had found on Eggman’s ship was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. As the ultimate life form, Shadow was designed to be nearly perfect in every way: faster and stronger than any creature known to his creators, immune to most diseases, biologically immortal, and a conduit for Chaos energy. However, when in Mephiles’ presence, he felt no more significant that an ant. Whatever it was, Shadow knew that its power far exceeded his own, and if left unchecked, would wreak havoc upon the world.

Thankfully for the agents, White Acropolis was only about a half-hour flight from Soleanna. Deep in the high mountains, a seemingly random landing strip cut through the snow. From above, the G.U.N. facility appeared to be no more than a runway and hangar. The rest of the compound, however, was hidden deep beneath the frozen earth. Store rooms, laboratories, and even a factory for G.U.N.’s advanced combat drones stretched down nearly a full mile beneath the surface, all hidden from view. The Chaos Emerald being held there was locked away in a vault on the very bottom level of the facility.

The jet spiraled down to the landing strip, coming to a halt soon after touch down. As the agents disembarked, they were met with the sound of heavy metallic footsteps. Approaching them was a hulking humanoid machine with a red omega symbol on it’s left shoulder.

“Long time, no see, Omega,” greeted Rouge.

“No see is correct.”

“Tell me, what’s it like being head of security of this fine establishment?”

The massive robot bent down, raising his hand to pantomime a whisper, “Boring.”

Rouge let out a soft chuckle before responding, “Well then, I assume you haven’t seen any suspicious characters around? HQ just sent us in to ensure that the Emerald is safe.”

“Affirmative,” Omega replied in his monotone voice, “I have also been notified that a hostile entity has been spotted heading toward White Acropolis. However, no such entity has been detected so far. The Chaos Emerald is still in the vault.”

Rouge sighed in relief. “Ok, good. That means we beat Mephiles here. Come on, Shadow, let’s get the Emerald and take it back to HQ.”

Shadow nodded, following his partner into the hangar with Omega trailing behind him. Inside the structure was all the equipment and supplies one would expect to find in a typical hangar. The only thing unusual was the top of an elevator shaft in the back of the building, one of the only few entrances to the underground facility. The two agents stepped inside the elevator. Omega tried to follow them, but could not fit through the door. Feeling bad for the robot, Rouge reached up to pat Omega on the head, and assured him that they would be back soon. With that, Shadow pressed a button on the keypad next to the door that would take the duo to the bottom of the complex.

As the lift descended, entrances to passing floors flew upwards at an increasing rate. The black hedgehog was still as quiet as he had been on the jet, and after about half a minute, the white bat broke the uncomfortable silence.

“You wanna tell me what’s got you so worked up?” Rouge asked somewhat playfully, trying to relieve some tension in the air.

A moment passed before Shadow responded, refusing to meet her gaze, “The Princess was with Sonic when you told him about Mephiles, right?”

“She was. Why do you ask?”

“You didn’t mention that it was walking around in her father’s body. I would’ve thought that was an important detail she would want to know.”

“It didn’t think it was appropriate at the time,” she retorted. “The kid just had her entire world flipped on its head. I didn’t want _that_ weighing on her too. Besides, if it really is so important, why didn’t _you_ say anything?”

The elevator slowed its descent. Shadow remained silent.

“Hello, Earth to Shadow? Can you hear me?”

The black hedgehog turned to his partner with an annoyed look. “We’re almost there. Just be quiet and keep your guard up,” he said, a bit more harshly than he intended.

The Elevator slowly came to a stop. The doors opened to a long hallway illuminated by rows of fluorescent lights. At the end was a thick steel door, behind which was one of the most powerful objects in the universe. The two agents made their way down the hall, monitored by hidden cameras and sensors ready to sound an alarm at a moment’s notice. Once Shadow and Rouge reached the door, a panel on the left wall opened to reveal a retinal scanner. The hedgehog bent down slightly to put his bring his eye to the scanner. After a brief pause the device dinged in approval, and retracted into the wall.

The sound of clamps and locks releasing echoed through the hall. Air hissed as the vault depressurized. The fifteen-inch thick steel slab that sealed the vault slowly swung out towards the agents. Inside the bomb-proof chamber stood a single pedestal holding a thick, reinforced briefcase.

Shadow went in first, with rouge following close behind. The hedgehog carefully took the briefcase off of the pedestal before undoing the latches holding it shut. As he opened the briefcase, Shadow could feel the Chaos energy radiating from the Emerald wash over him. The cyan jewel emitted a soft glow with a combination of refracted light from inside the vault, as well as its own innate fluorescence. Even after many encounters with the Chaos Emeralds, both agents could not help but stare in awe at the gem. Rouge was captivated by the Emerald’s immaculate beauty, while Shadow marveled at its immense power.

After a moment of ogling the Chaos Emerald, Rouge tapped a hidden communication device on her wrist and spoke, “HQ, this is Agent Rouge. The Emerald at White Acropolis is secure. Agent Shadow and I will be taking it back to Home Base shortly.”

There was no response. The bat spoke again, “I repeat, the Emerald at White Acropolis is-”

Without warning, all the lights in the hallway and vault shut off. All, except for the one directly above the pedestal. Shadow hastily shut and latched the briefcase before assuming a fighting stance. Rouge drew two grenades from inside her arm-length gloves as her eyes darted around the darkness, looking for whatever caused the blackout.

“You two don’t appear to be the typical agent type…”

The duo turned in the direction of the disembodied, low and raspy voice. From the darkness, two files were thrown at their feet. They were files containing the profiles of agents Rouge the Bat, and Shadow the hedgehog.

“An ex-jewel thief, and a failed experiment. Working for an organization that once hunted them down. How ironic fate can be…”

“What do you want?!” Shadow barked into the darkness, doing his best to hide his fear from the ancient being.

“Honestly?” Mephiles replied, “The same as you. I want everything to go back to normal. Forget any of this ever happened...” Shadow felt hot breath brush against his ear from behind. “... To be whole again.”

The black hedgehog whipped around with a spinning back-fist, aiming to hit the monster square in its jaw. He was met, however, only with an image of Mephiles behind him that dissipated on contact with the hedgehog’s fist. In the brief instant the image was visible, Shadow saw that it was grinning at him.

Mephiles continued, “Though, only one of those is possible now. Even then, it would take a miracle, but I’ve heard _these_ can help...”

Rouge gasped at the sight of the Emerald’s briefcase hanging open and empty. Shadow looked down to see, equally as shocked, before frantically searching for wherever it could have gone. His searching stopped when his eyes locked with another Mephiles’, glowing like deep blue embers. The cyan Chaos Emerald floated just above the ancient being’s head. The dead Duke began to slowly dissolve into the shadows along with the Emerald. The black hedgehog wanted to chase after it and take back the Chaos Emerald before they disappeared, but fear had frozen him in place. Without saying another word, both Mephiles and the Emerald vanished into the blackness. The lights suddenly came back to life, revealing nothing but a small puddle of a tar-like substance in the entrance of the vault.

Both agents were dumbfounded by what had just happened. While they were still processing the fact that yet another Emerald had been stolen, another voice, slightly distorted by radio static, broke the silence.

“Agent Rouge, you were cutting out for a minute there. What is the status of the Emerald?”

The bat snapped out of her stupor, bringing her communication device to her face. “This is agent Rouge. The Chaos Emerald has been stolen. Be advised, the suspect is an entity that calls itself Mephiles and has taken the appearance of the late Duke of Soleanna. It is extremely dangerous and is after the other Emeralds as well. Requesting permission for Team Dark to pursue, and for MTF units to be sent to Soleanna to deal with Robotnik’s forces.”

The sounds of Rouge’s conversation faded in Shadow’s mind as he focused on his file on the ground. Ashes and small burn marks covered parts of the file, but it was still mostly readable. The hedgehog was drawn to several highlighted words: ‘ARK,’ ‘Project Shadow,’ ‘Black Arms,’ ‘experiment,’ ‘hostile,’ ‘Maria Robotnik.’ When Shadow read the name of his dead best friend, his fists clenched so tightly that, if it weren’t for his gloves, he would have drawn blood. Every ounce of fear the hedgehog had for Mephiles was immediately replaced with a burning hatred he had only felt once before.

“Shadow!” Rouge yelled. “HQ is asking for a motive?”

Shadow growled, refusing to meet his partner’s gaze, “It just got personal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE's the edgelord we all know and love!
> 
> So, this is it. We have officially reached the point Story Surgery left off. I would like to apologize for the long wait between chapters. Some personal stuff came up that I had to deal with, and the more I go back to read the previous chapter, the less I like it. It just feels super bloated and boring. I might go back at some point and split it into two chapters, each focusing on Sonic and Silver individually.
> 
> Going forward, I would actually like to keep Shadow's story line as close to the game as possible. It was one of, if not the last time Shadow wasn't treated like a joke by the writers. His story was one of the very few things that 06 actually did right, and I want to do my boy justice.
> 
> Also, yes. I did name this chapter after the Trivium album (even though it's the worst one).
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


	7. Plans and Lack Thereof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> High above the city of Soleanna, the world's number one genius, Ivo Robotnik, Has just been informed that that pesky hedgehog and his friends broke Mephiles out of containment. Understandably, This makes the Doctor very upset, and immediately begins to make preparations to get his plan back on track.
> 
> Back on the ground, Sonic, Elise and the rest of the group are desperate to come up with a plan to stop Eggman before he causes any more destruction. Seeing no other way to prevent disaster, Elise proposes that the team confront Robotnik directly. The hedgehog reluctantly agrees before springing into action.
> 
> Out in search of the other Chaos Emeralds, Mephiles senses Iblis' awakening, and comes to a decision on what to do about the G.U.N. agents on his tail.

The sounds of crashing equipment and incoherent expletives rang out through the halls of the Egg Carrier as a furious Doctor Robotnik tore apart his lab. “DO THOSE MORONS HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THEY’VE DONE?!” the mad doctor yelled, slamming his fists on one of the few tables he had not flipped over. The great, magnificent Doctor Eggman had been outplayed by that insolent little rat and his friends. Again. What was worse, they had managed to let that thing out of containment.

Oh, when I get my hands on him...!

In the reflection of a dark computer monitor, Ivo spotted the two Egg Pawns that escorted him to his laboratory. Fear shown Blatantly on their faces. Well, as much as a static LED smile could show fear, at least.

“What are you two dunderheads staring at?!” Eggman barked at the rotund automatons, “Get back to your positions! Deploy more ground troops and keep an eye out for Sonic and the Princess. If either of them are spotted in the city, you are to alert me immediately!” The pawns jolted into a salute before turning and running down the hall to execute their orders.

Ivo took a moment to inspect the damage done to his lab before he had arrived. The roughly Egg Pawn-shaped dent was still in the wall, but that was the least of the Doctor’s worries. What concerned him most was the shattered holding cell, and the shoddily sealed hole in the ship’s hull. All the work he had put into capturing Mephiles had gone to waste. “If that slimy blue hedgehog wants to play dirty, then I’ll play dirty!”

Eggman strode out of his lab and through the Egg Carrier’s maze of steel corridors. Teams of Egg Pawns also making their way through the ship briefly stopped to give their glorious leader a quick salute before moving on. The metal labyrinth eventually converged on a massive door emblazoned with the Doctor’s smiling face. The doors opened automatically at their creator’s presence. The Doctor stepped inside, and turned on his heel as the doors slid shut. The platform rushed upwards past half a dozen of the Carrier’s decks. 

Upon reaching the top, another set of doors opened to reveal the airship’s vast bridge. In the center of the bridge, high above the rest of the room, was the Doctor’s command station. From this vantage point, Eggman could watch his minions preform their tasks, just as perfect and in sync as he had designed them to. Mechanical flight technicians monitored the ship’s diagnostics from their stations and robotic commanders watched and directed their squads on the ground. Outside the massive window at overlooking the Egg Carrier’s runway, Egg Flappers and Chasers could be seen launching into the air at regular intervals. Like clockwork, The Doctor though to himself as he took his place in the command seat, Just how everything should be.

The Doctor pressed a small button on one of his control panels, and a microphone slowly rose from the floor. Robotnik took the device, cleared his throat and brought it to his mouth before speaking. “Attention all maintenance crews,” Ivo’s voice bombed throughout the entire ship, “Report to the central hangar and prepare the Egg Wyvern. We’ll be expecting company today.”

-

Elise couldn’t believe what was happening. Even with the teachings of the church drilled into her head over the years, in the back of her mind she always thought the ceremonial flame was just that, ceremonial. Whatever was in front of her, however, was so much more. It was alive. The crimson fire twisted and flickered in ways that she had never seen before. And that noise… It was as if all the world’s hunger, confusion, and rage was condensed into pure sound.

“Uh, Elise?” Sonic piped up from behind the avian princess, “You got a plan to deal with this?”

She looked back to the blue hedgehog and his friends. All of them had their fearful eyes on her, awaiting her next words. Elise turned her attention to the metal leviathan above their heads, and the face of Doctor Robotnik stared back down at her. The Princess weighed her options in her head. There was a pause before she took a deep breath, and spoke.

“Take me to Robotnik.”

“WHAT?!” Sonic and his friends exclaimed in unison. Elise had expected this.

“Robotnik has my torch, and I need it to quell the flames and finish the ritual,” she explained. This did little to convince the rag-tag group of freedom fighters.

“We’re not doing that,” The blue hedgehog retorted, taking a few steps closer. “Eggman’s way too dangerous. There’s no way he’d hand over the torch.”

“Yeah,” added tails, “and even if he did, he would just take you hostage until you told him what he wants. And who knows what he would do with that information!”

“I know that, but my people are counting on me. If I just sit here and do nothing, I’ll have failed them and I could never live with that.” Despite the seeds of doubt planted in her mind, Elise had never sounded more sure, even to herself. “You all have dealt with him before, right? So, I can count on you to help if things go sideways. And even if they do, it’s not like I can tell him much, anyway. I didn’t even know that the flames had… powers until a couple of hours ago.”

Sonic stared at her with a raised eyebrow for a moment before turning back to his friends. Quickly, they all gathered into a huddle, discussing whether to go through with the Princess’s plan or not. Their hushed words were barely audible to Elise over the incessant noise emanating from the grand cauldron, which seemed to grow louder by the second. She turned to face the source of the noise. As she looked into the raging fire, she felt what she could only describe as a pull towards its center. It was as if a part fundamental part of her was trapped somewhere inside the crimson inferno, and if she could just reach in ant take it…

“Alright, we’ll do it.” The blue hedgehog’s words snapped Elise out of her trance. “But we better get moving, otherwise we’ll have a way bigger problem to deal with.” Sonic pointed up at the Egg Carrier, which was releasing yet another wave of robots onto the city. “Tails, where did you park the Tornado?”

“It should be just outside the city, southeast of here. Hopefully, none of Eggman’s forces have found it yet.”

“Okay. Knuckles, dig a tunnel leading out of the city and take Elise with you. I’m counting on you and Amy to keep her safe. Tails and I will make a break for the Tornado and clear out any Egg Pawns we find.”

With a dutiful nod, Knuckles reared back and dove into the pedestal, throwing chunks of the concrete platform into the air. The echidna dug at a blistering pace, and soon, a decently sized hole leading deep underground was formed. Elise hesitated for a moment. She looked to the blue blur for reassurance. He simply smirked and gave her his signature thumbs-up, and rocketed off towards the edge of the city, followed close behind by his yellow sidekick. Now filled with determination, the Princess steeled herself and leapt into Knuckle’s tunnel. The pink hedgehog followed soon after.

-

Deep in the remote mountains of Spagonia, a shadow moved silently through the wilderness. As it passed over the terrain, all the grass covered by the umbra was immediately scorched. Deep blue embers emitted wisps of smoke that drifted in the wind. Suddenly, the sentient dark spot came to a sudden halt. Black tar seeped up from the soil, forming a large puddle of the putrid substance. From this puddle, an old bird with patchy, ashen feathers and glowing blue eyes emerged. As if disturbed by some unheard noise, the old bird turned towards the rising sun.

Mephiles’ tired eyes widened as a sound perceptible to only him filled the air. A warm, nostalgic smile spread across the deity’s face. Ah… you are finally awake, he said in his mind. The tone of the sound shifted in response to the demigod’s thoughts. I know, I know. I missed you as well, old friend, but you must be patient. There is something I must do before we may be whole once more. Once again, the noise shifted in pitch, now more somber. Soon. Not yet, but soon.

Slowly, the old bird was subsumed by the tar, and continued on his way. The first Chaos Emerald had told him the way to the second, and was now guiding him to the third. This particular emerald was in a place had been to before, many centuries before he and his people had settled in Soleanna. According to the magic jewels in Mephiles’s possession, the next rested in the ruins of an ancient city that a tribe of echidnas had once called home. By now, it was no more than a collection of crumbling pillars in the Shamar dessert. A small part of the deity was saddened by knowledge that the ones who gave refuge to the ancient Soleannans would not be there to greet him, but the rest was glad that the last of them had died long ago and would not have to witness the world’s punishment.

Even though the old ruins had been abandoned for centuries, Mephiles knew that those pesky agents also be looking for the Emeralds. No doubt that they would also think to search the city, and if they did find the emerald before him, they would certainly put up a fight. Though strong in his own right, Mephiles was always one to manipulate rather than fight. Iblis had always been the fighter among him and Inerste. If conflict with the agents was inevitable, then he had to come up with a strategy.

Mephiles already knew that simply convincing them to stand down was not an option. Even if it was, their organization (‘G.U.N.,’ it was called) would most likely send more agents after him. However, there was a chance that he could convince either of them to join his side.

The bat is obsessed with gemstones, and her abilities as a spy may be useful, the deity pondered, and what jewels are more splendid than chaos emeralds? But would that be enough to convince her to join me...? No, too flimsy of a motivation, he decided, and there is the possibility that she could double-cross me. The black hedgehog on the other hand…

Shadow’s file in White Acropolis had told Mephiles many fascinating things: details of his creation, his aptitude for harnessing chaos energy, and the hedgehog’s relationship with a girl named ‘Maria Robotnik.’ According to the file, the supposed ‘ultimate life form’ saw her as somewhat of an older sister, and thus held her in a very high regard. Now that had limitless potential to be exploited. 

The demigod had to snap himself out of his scheming, and remain focused on obtaining the chaos emeralds. Turning Shadow would merely be a bonus, not the end goal. His objective still was to enact justice upon the world that had forsaken him, and finally slay the heretics that had driven his people from their homeland in the first place. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Everyone. Sorry for the long wait between chapters. When I said school was going to take priority, I meant it. Engineering is hard. Hopefully, this chapter can hold you off for a bit, even though it's kind of filler-y. Next one should be a little more exciting. As always, If you have anything that you think could help improve the story, please feel free to let me know.


	8. Peripheral Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team dark has to make a pit stop before heading out to confront Mephiles. Unfortunately, even when they are hundreds miles apart, the broken god is never out of striking distance.

It wasn’t often that Shadow slept. His alien biology meant that typically vital functions, such as eating and sleeping, were unnecessary. The same could not be said for his teammates, however. Omega had to charge periodically, and Rouge needed sleep to live. For as eager as Shadow was to chase after Mephiles, the rest of Team Dark had to stop at G.U.N.’s Spagonia headquarters to rest and refuel, so he figured he might get some shuteye as well. 

As uncommon as it was for the black hedgehog to sleep, it was even more so for him to have nightmares. 

The dream started off fairly pleasant. He was back on the Ark, walking down a hallway on the outer rim of the space station. The massive windows on his left revealed a softly glowing blue planet suspended in an endless void. Few stars shown in that vast sea of black, Möbius’ shine drowning most of them out.

“No matter how many times I see it, it’s still as magnificent as ever. Right, Shadow?”

The sudden sound of Maria’s voice drew the hedgehog’s attention away from the serene sight out the window. He was surprised that he still remembered what she sounded like. Every time Shadow tried to recall her voice in his head, it never sounded quite right.

“Absolutely,” he replied once he got over the shock of seeing her again in person. The photos he kept truly didn’t do her justice. Her eyes and her smile carried an energy, this sense of hope and warmth that, for some reason, never came across in pictures. That was another thing Shadow was surprised he remembered so vividly. Even after months therapy and experimental treatment, most memories from before his fall were hazy at best. He decided that it was best not to question why all this detail was just coming back to him now, and enjoy this moment with his big sister.

The two stood there for just a few seconds before the human girl spoke again. “I can’t believe we’ll actually be down there in a couple of days. As much as I like the Ark, I can’t wait to see everything Möbius has to offer.” 

“Wait, what? We’re going down to Möbius? But I thought I was supposed to be top secret-”

“Don’t you remember, silly?” Maria cut him off, smile bright as ever. “Grandfather has been talking with the leaders of G.U.N., and they agreed to reveal you to the public! The days of keeping you a secret are over, and once they find out that you were the key to curing my NIDS- Oh, right! Come on, Shadow! We don’t want to be late for our own party!”

And with that, she was off, giving Shadow little time to question these new developments. It was at this point that the hedgehog began to realize he was dreaming. But that didn't explain why certain details and qualities of Maria, even though he had never been able to before. He had many dreams about Maria and the Ark, but even then they were fuzzy and followed extreme dream logic. This dream, however, seemed so real to him. And he never dreamed of her NIDS being cured (he guessed that was how he always saw her, subconsciously), so why now?

Shadow’s stupor was broken by his sister calling back to him, telling him to hurry up. “W-wait for me!” he replied before running to catch up with her. Though it was no great effort by any means, he was surprised by how fast he had to run to meet her down the hall. Whatever cure Doctor Gerald had developed must have worked wonders because Maria was never able to keep her current pace before, let alone for this long.

The two rushed through the space colony’s maze of hallways (not quite laid out how he remembered) until they had finally arrived at the Ark’s main common room. Upon reaching their destination, the room’s automatic doors slid open to reveal a sea of people gathered in various groups around tables, a buffet, and some just standing around. Nearly everyone aboard the ark must have been in that room making merry and celebrating the success of Project Shadow.

Everyone turned their heads as Shadow and Maria entered the room, and when they did the party goers erupted with thunderous cheers and applause. Maria giggled and politely curtsied at their greeting while Shadow simply chuckled and waved to the crowd. The cheering continued until a bald, old man with an enormous gray mustache stood up from where he was sitting and raised his glass.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming,” The great Doctor Gerald Robotnik began, “and joining me in celebration of what we have accomplished here. Years upon years of hard work, failed experiments, and sleepless nights have finally paid off! We came here with the sole purpose of building the ultimate life form, and that is exactly what we did! Though, he is not the bioweapon that our  _ overseers _ commissioned. he is something much,  _ much _ greater. He is a guardian, a protector, a cure for many of the worlds illnesses, but most importantly a friend that many shall not soon forget. If you had told me that the kindest soul I had ever met would be created in my lab with the DNA of an ancient alien warlord, I would have laughed in your face… and yet, he stands just over there.” Gerald pointed to the black hedgehog with his champagne flute. Show looked away bashfully at the sudden attention he was receiving.

The Doctor continued, “Shadow the Hedgehog, you are the first in a long line of innovations and scientific miracles that will change the world forever. Words cannot describe how proud I am to not only be your creator, but to call you a member of the Robotnik family.” Gerald punctuated the end of his speech by downing the rest of his drink. “Well, I think that’s about all the sappy nonsense I can stand for one evening. This is a party, isn’t it? Start the music, and let’s celebrate!”

The whole room was once again filled with the cheers of dozens of scientists. A band standing on a makeshift stage at the far side of the room began playing an old school rock’n’roll tune, typical of the time Shadow was aboard the Ark. Several party goers came up to Maria to congratulate her on being free of NIDS, and thanking Shadow for stopping the raid that would have surely ended their lives. 

The black hedgehog recognized many of the faces he saw that night. There were some faces he knew, but couldn’t find the names for, but there were others that looked as though they did not have faces at all. They had eyes, noses, and mouths all where they should be, but Shadow’s brain simply could not register them as faces, or even as people. It was around this point where the dream began to take a sinister turn. He felt every muscle in his body tense up, and his heartbeat quicken. His anxiety was only slightly lessened by Maria’s presence.

Dream logic became more apparent as the party went on. Signs and labels became jumbled nonsense. Time sped up and slowed down at random. Shadow felt his limbs become heavier and heavier, making it harder to dance with Maria when she asked. The task also was not helped by the fact the music sounded distorted, as if played underwater and out of time. The human girl only noticed the hedgehog’s state after a sudden wave of fatigue washed over him.

“Hey, Shadow, are you feeling alright?”

Maria’s voice was still clear.

“Yeah, just feeling really tired all of a sudden.” It was not a lie, but the hedgehog still felt guilty saying it. Perhaps it was because he knew his dream would end soon? He did not want to say goodbye to his best friend so soon.

“Well, then we should probably get you to bed. You’ve earned your rest.”

Maria took Shadow by his hand, and led him out of the common room. They said their goodbyes to the party goers, and made their way back to Shadow’s sleeping quarters. The layout of the halls had somehow changed again, leaving the black hedgehog even more disoriented. Maria let go of his hand when they reached the door. The room’s lights were already off when they arrived. Shadow climbed up onto his bed and pulled the covers over himself. He turned to see Maria still standing in the doorway. Even with the harsh light shining behind her, Shadow could still see her brilliant blue eyes.

“Goodnight, Shadow,” the girl spoke softly. “Sweet dreams.”

Goodnight, Maria.” 

Shadow turned away from her and closed his eyes. He did not hear the door close, and the anxious feeling from the party returned. He could still sense Maria’s presence behind him, but now it brought him no comfort. The hedgehog’s ear’s perked up, survival instincts on high alert. He did not dare turn around. 

He felt a slow, steady pulse of hot air on his back. He tried to push it out of his mind. He tried to relax and just fall asleep, but something deep within him told him that if he did, he was dead. Left with no other options, Shadow slowly twisted his head around to look over his shoulder.

Standing at the edge of the hedgehog’s bed was a tall, lanky figure. Its skin was charred and decayed, cracked patches glowed like blue smoldering coals. Its face was emaciated, almost skeletal, with two sunken eyes glowing a deep blue behind oily clumps of thin blonde hair. Tar and smoke slowly leaked from its slightly open mouth, and its nostrils flared with the same fiery blue glow as the skin in time with its breathing. It leaned over Shadow’s body, staring directly into his very soul. The mangled corpse stood there for what seemed like an eternity before, in a low and raspy voice, asked him a single question.

“How was it?”

-

Rouge was awoken by the muffled scream of her teammate in the other room. For as nice as the Team Dark private quarters was, the walls were always just a little too thin for her liking. The bat grumbled groggily at the sudden noise, and considered trying to go back to sleep before she checked the time on her alarm clock. 

5:21 am. 

Rouge let out a deep yawn followed by another annoyed groan before sitting up and rubbing the crust from her tired eyes. She stretched up towards the ceiling and got out of bed. She was going to get up soon anyway, so she figured she might as well see what the fuss was about.

When she opened the door to the apartment’s living room, Rouge was blinded by a harsh white light. After a moment of letting her eyes adjust, she saw a black hedgehog pacing back and forth through the room, clearly deep in thought.

“What’s going on, sunshine? Bad dream?” asked the bat, still half asleep.

“Hmm.”

“... You wanna talk about it?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

_ Of course it’s not _ . “Look, Shadow, I get you like to keep your problems to yourself, but I can’t let this affect the mission. Especially since it’s ‘personal.’”

Rouge sighed after a few seconds without a response. “You know you don’t have to be the stoic loner  _ all _ the time right? We are a team, after all. And more than that, we’re friends. You’re allowed to talk to me about this kind of stuff.” She put a hand on Shadow’s shoulder. Her partner turned his head to make eye contact with her, and she could feel the hedgehog lose a bit of the tension in his body.

Red eyes stared into teal for perhaps half a moment too long before Shadow begrudgingly gave his response. 

“I’m just stressed about the mission, is all. I’ll probably get over it soon. Just need to come up with a game plan, and we’ll take Mephiles down, no problem.”

It wasn’t quite the answer Rouge was looking for, but she’d take what she can get. Her concerned expression brightened. “Whatever you say, tough guy.” Rouge let out another long yawn. “I’m gonna go take a shower and get ready. You be a doll and go wake Omega up for me. I’ll meet up with you two when I get out. Also, be sure to bring something to keep you cool. I hear Shamar gets real toasty this time of year.”

With that, the white bat strode off into the apartment’s bathroom, closing the door behind her. Shadow took the faint hiss of the shower as his cue to leave. As the hedgehog left the apartment, he couldn’t help but notice how quickly rouge had raised his spirits. He stood up straighter, his stride was more confident and deliberate, and a small smirk was plastered on his face. 

__ _ With her and Omega at my side, Mephiles doesn’t stand a chance. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, Shadow, you do care! I wish I could say the same for your canon counterpart, but SEGA really doesn't like you having a personality.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the long wait between chapters. School has been taking up a lot of my time, as usual (engineering is hard). Plus, I also recently picked up Devil May Cry 5, so that's been my newest obsession for a while. Luckily, I do have another chapter in progress, so that should be out soonᵗᵐ. Thank you all so much for reading and being patient with my nonexistent upload schedule.


End file.
